My Family
by dark wings alias raat ke rani
Summary: what a family means to nagi? is a demented group like schwarz enough? does he know what a family is?
1. NonExistance

Disclaimer: don't own Nagi, Schuldig, Crawford, Farfarello, and the rest of the Weiss Kreuz series characters. They belong to... ahm, you know who.... I don't even own the "Sakoda-sensei", her name belong to my friends.

OK, I made some mistakes on the time table and maybe some of you will find it annoying. But, what's done is done... so just let it be. Please review.... ^_^

M Y F A M I L Y

Chapter I  
  
The woman wrote on the white board, "My Family," she said in a serious tone to her students as the bell rang, "I want you to make a short essay to describe your family and the way you live. And we are going to present them next week at the parents' day."

All the students hurried out the class room. The bell was the only thing they waited for at the last session. Only one figure seemed moving slowly. The figure was a boy, dark brown hair and purple eyes. He moved toward the teacher who was just about to leave the room.

"Sakoda-sensei," the boy called as he stopped by the woman.

"Yes, Naoe," the woman turned to the boy. She flung a strand of blue-black hair from her face.

"My guardian will not be able to come at the parents' day," he said slowly.

Miss Sakoda smiled. //Poor boy// she said to herself. She liked the boy. Naoe Nagi was always quiet and polite, always calm in temper, and he was very intelligent too. It's such a shame that a little boy like him has to be an orphan since he was so young and had to live with a guardian, who was not even his relative. Living with a stranger, and not even as an adopted child. "And why can't your guardian come?"

Nagi lowered his head, "He had to go out of town for business matter."

"I see," said the teacher, "But I'm looking forward to meet your guardian. It's about time to talk about your future. You're going to be graduated from this school soon."

Nagi stayed in silence. It was not that Crawford could not come to school; it was HE who did not want anyone from the house to come. 

"Well then," said the woman, snapping Nagi of from his day dream, "Why not I come to your place and talk to your guardian when he has time?"

Nagi's eyes widened, but he lowered his head even more. "I will ask him," he said then, "Thank you, Sakoda-sensei." He bowed and left the room, heading to his locker.

  
"I wonder what Naoe Nagi will write."

Nagi stopped frozen as he heard the voice from somewhere behind the rows of lockers.

Another voice came out, "He has no family, hasn't he?"

The first voiced, "But, Rika-chan, nobody knows about him, right?"

"I heard he's not even adopted," said a third voice, "I guess he was just taken because he is smart."

That's it, and Nagi decided to reveal himself and walked silently to his locker. He saw three of his classmates with the corner of his eyes. The three of them fell silent, pretending to be busy with their matters, but he knew that they still eyed him as he walked away.

  
He walked along with the crowd past several shops and stores. There were many high school and junior high school students walking about, still in their school uniforms. It was Friday, and there would be two days off for week end. Two days off from school, but that didn't mean days off for Nagi. Any jobs from SS, or Takatori, or Crawford, would have to be done as soon as possible, no matter what day it was.

"I can't wait for tomorrow, it will be my first date with Haruka." A group of boys, just the same age as him talked about their plan for the weekend, as the moving crowd stopped at the junction.

"What are you going to do, Shouta-kun?"

"My brother is going to play at some club, and he let me help him."

They laughed. Loud and happy. Something Nagi never (and would never) had, perhaps all of his life. He decided to distance a little bit from the boys. He felt insecure standing close to them. Luckily, the traffic light turned red, and the crowd moved again, making a cris-cross pattern at the junction. And Nagi felt as if he was walking backward when the others moved ever forward. He did not belong to them. He wished he did.

As Nagi reached the high-rise apartment building, he hurried taking himself away from the crowd, hiding himself in the elevator that took him up to the highest level of the building, back to his 'home'. A sanctuary from the others, a sanctuary from life. A place where he could hide himself. 

"Tadaima!" he tried to say it loud, but his voice faltered as he knew nobody would answer him. The house was not empty then. He knew. Schuldig must be in the living room watching TV and Farfarello must be in his room, but they just didn't have the culture saying so when they come home. They were from different countries, different cultures. Even Crawford, who understood Japanese culture better, never answered "Okaerinasai".  
"You're home," Schuldig murmured without turning his head from the TV. 

Nagi didn't answer. He walked straight to his room, passing Crawford who was coming out of his working room, asking, "How's the school, Nagi?"

Still the fifteen year old didn't want to answer. He kept on walking and locked himself in his room. He dropped his bag down to the floor and moved slowly to his bed. Half asleep, he could still hear Crawford and Schuldig talking.

"What is wrong with Nagi?" Crawford asked in a curious tone.

"I don't know. Why don't you just ask him?"

"He's very… quiet."

A lazy nasal voice answered, "He IS always quiet. If you want an ever-happy kid, why don't you just take Bombay? He would cheer this house."

And even… Nagi felt distanced from the others.

  
Those purple eyes watched as Crawford gave his order to the other Schwarz members. Another duty at weekend. All he needed to do was hacking the computer system and let Schuldig and Farfarello do the dirty job. Crawford would be somewhere else, attending some Jigen's social party as Takatori Reiji's bodyguard.  
"Nagi! Can you do it, Nagi?" Crawford's grim voice brought him back to reality.

"Uh... oh... h-hai!" Nagi stuttered.

"You didn't pay attention!" Crawford shouted at him. 

Nagi lowered his face. He knew too well that Crawford hated flaws, and he always wanted everything to be perfect. Expect no failures. 

"OK, let's get the move on!" Crawford clapped his hands to hurry the others.

Schuldig and Farfarello went down to fetch Schuldig's car and went to another part of the town. Nagi stood and walked his way to the space room. A narrow room, painted black with thousands of small yellow lamps installed on the wall, giving the room an outer space aura. 

"You have fifteen minutes to work it out before Schuldig and Farfarello arrived there," Brad said. He took out his gun and checked it carefully before placing it back behind his suit. "Don't forget to eye Schuldig and Farfarello. Make sure he gained enough information from Matsuyama before they kill him."

The boy only nodded to the man. Just as he reached the door the man called again, "Nagi," the American said, "I don't care what you're doing, as long as it doesn't distract your job."

The answer came as another nod.

  
Really, he always tried so hard to separate his personal and professional lives. Even when it came to Tot. He was angry when Farfarello killed her, and even became more disappointed when the other three left him alone carrying that Fujimiya Aya. But then again, he came back to them because he had no one else to turn to. Not even Tot, whom after being brought back to life, disappeared into thin air and never found again. Maybe she had found another 'papa'…. Who knows? He wanted to know….

He shook his head to throw away his thoughts and turned on the computer. Thank goodness that Crawford couldn't read his mind, and he was good enough to shield himself from Schuldig. 

A message popped up on the screen. "You've got mail!"

Nagi pushed the pointer to open the mail and read. It was an e-mail for Crawford from Sakoda-sensei asking if she could meet him to discuss about Nagi's future. Crawford became Nagi's guardian for legal matters, including school. But there was something that Sakoda-sensei did not know; all e-mails would have to pass Nagi's eyes before they reach the other Schwarz. 

Nagi simply hit the reply button and e-mailed his teacher saying that Crawford would not be able to arrange any meeting in a short time due to his hectic schedule. And yet, Crawford's schedule was really hectic. Nagi curled a faint smile before signing the e-mail with "Brad Crawford" and hit the send button. After another pop-up message saying that the e-mail had been delivered came out, he deleted Sakoda-sensei's e-mail. 

//It's already decided anyway// he thought to himself, //I will go to the best high school available, and then serve all my life to Schwarz … but not to stupid Takatori and SS.//

He looked at the watch displayed at the bottom right corner of his screen and realized that he had spent nearly seven minutes to reply the e-mail. He hurried placing his both hands on the keys and mouse and started to work. It took him no time to finish his job. 

And at least he didn't have to face Brad Crawford if the mission failed.

  
Nagi opened another window on his screen and checked out what Schuldig and Farfarello was doing. It was such a nice thing that there was something called security camera. And it was the fact that security cameras were not as secured as they were called. And with those, Nagi could sneak to see what others were doing without being seen.

//Checking out on us, Nagi?// Schuldig's said through his head.

//I'm only doing what I have to do.//

//Spying on us?//

//Making sure you do what you were told. Crawford said that you two are almost impossible.//

//Tja… Did Crawford say that? I feel soooo honored. Ch, Crawford doesn't believe in anyone except in himself.//

//Just do what you have to do, Schuldig.//

//Watch me!//

Nagi saw at the screen that Schuldig turned his head to one of the cameras and grinned. Farfarello didn't seem to care what his partner was doing, he was busy looking around to see if he could kill anyone.

It was almost ritual. Each time the two of them went to kill, Schuldig always grinned to the camera and waved before he started his mission. Farfarello was always aware and seemed to kill anything that moves. And the way they kill was perhaps the most painful way of slaying a person could ever imagine. They tortured both body and mind, and their victims would die insane. 

Schuldig would first twist the brain. Twisting and turning all the truth and lies all together. Making them not really sure what they were doing, whether they were right or wrong. It was Nagi's job to make sure that Schuldig did not get carried away by its victims. That was why he always accessed the security system to watch them. You just couldn't count on a lunatic to keep another one sane.

And as Schuldig playing with the dough of the mind, Farfarello would torture the body. First he would make scratches on the face, and down to the body. Stabbing and squeezing blood from his victim, but keeping the victim alive and conscious. He would rite some certain part of The Book or prayer as he killed. And as blood flooded on the floor, he would lick the iron taste of the fluid. 

Nagi usually enjoyed the scene he saw. It was nice to see someone asked for help, but nobody listened. It felt like making his inner revenge. A vengeance from a child abandoned by the society, and anger caressed by hatred. But tonight he would rather turn his face away from the screen. His thought swam to his essay. //Is this what I am going to write?// 

And he wished he had been a non-existence entity….

-to be contiued-


	2. Solitary Cell

I'm back! Thanks for the reviews. Really, I couldn't believe I could get that much. Thank you.   
OK, there's not much on this. I'm such a slow person. Too many things to do "in the real world". ^_^   
I'll be finishing the fic in two or three chapter. I'm still thinking what kind of family that Nagi would write in his essay, which will appear in the last chapter. So for now, please enjoy this. 

And yes... I guess this is not angst enough....

*copy from somewhere and paste the usual "I don't own Weiss" disclaimer* 

Chapter 2 - A Solitary Cell  
  
Slap! Nagi felt a burning sting on his left cheek. He peeked through the wisps of his hair and saw Crawford's figure standing tall in front of him. 

"You failed the mission!" the man yelled at him with his baritone voice. "Didn't I tell you to keep your eyes on Schuldig? Didn't I, Nagi?!"

Nagi nodded silently. It was his fault that he minimized the security camera window. He might not be able to hear the conversation, but he should have been able to see the their expressions, and he should have known that Schuldig was having a problem with their victim. The German had lost his control over Matsuyama. The man had a good control over his own mind. This type was certainly rare, but there were some people Schuldig found hard to penetrate with his mind.

It was too late when Nagi put the window to its normal size. Schuldig got carried away while Farfarello was nowhere in sight. He left the two for a while to take care of the security guards. That Matsuyama person was a very wealthy and important man in Japanese politic. Nagi tried to attack the man with his power, preventing Schuldig from being carried away further. He slammed the man to the wall, but to his surprise, the man could still moving. It was not a supernatural ability, it was only a matter of will power. 

Thank to Farfarello, the mission was saved. They didn't get the information they wanted from the man, but at least the man was killed anyway. Farfarello was fast, and he didn't need much time to think about killing others. As he got aware that his comrades were in trouble, he decided to slay the man right away. It was the best choice he had then, and Crawford thanked him from saving his team.

"You are going to pay for this, Nagi." Crawford's teeth clenched in anger. He despised failures the most. Everything must be done properly and perfectly. "I'll make sure about that!" He raised his hand to give another slap on the boy's face, but a firm hand stopped him. "Schuldig?"

"It wasn't all his fault!" Schuldig put the hand down. 

"It isn't, indeed!" Crawford shove Schuldig's grip away from his wrist. "It was mostly YOUR fault!"

"Ah so…." Schuldig sneered, "Was it, Brad?" He circled the black haired man. "Was it mostly my fault? But you failed to see, Brad. You failed to see it coming. So was it my fault? Was it Nagi's fault? Tell me. I don't think so."

"Shut up, Schuldig!"

"Are you loosing your touch?"

"For God's sake, will you shut your mouth up?!" Crawford threw a punch to the long haired. He almost miss the face, but he had seen it coming. He only needed to change his aim in a sudden. Schuldig fell on the floor. He licked the corner of his lips and tasted a bit of blood taste there. 

"So you see," Crawford smiled as he stood tall above Schuldig, "I am not loosing my touch. I know you were going to move that way."

"Ch, you failed your mission anyway," Schuldig stated as he recovered his position. "You know you're failing, but you put the blame on me and Nagi." His face close to the American. "So, what are you going to do now, Bradley dear? You need to get the information anyway. You don't want Takatori to distrust you now, do you? We still need him. Think, Brad. Think good…."

Nagi eyed the conversation. His hand touched the burning pain on his cheek. He didn't remember how many times Brad slapped him for punishment, but he always thought he deserved it. It was a sign of concern. At least the pain showed that there was someone who cared of what he was doing.

He silently took his steps away from Schuldig and Crawford. 

  
"Good morning," Nagi entered the kitchen. Crawford was already there with his cup of coffee and Sunday paper. It was just another morning in life. The mission was not talked anymore. Nagi didn't know what the two was talking about after he left then, but the case was closed. 

He busied himself with a bowl of cereals. Every morning was always the same as this one. They all woke up at different time and they had their breakfast by their selves. Actually, they never sat down together to eat. He hardly ever eat Japanese food either, even though he lived in his own country. The others didn't like Japanese food that much. They preferred bread and potatoes.

"Nagi," Crawford voiced, calling the Japanese boy.

Nagi's eyes looked up to the man. He needed not to answer. Those eyes movement was enough to show that he paid attention. Crawford was aware that Nagi was the opposite of Schuldig. While Schuldig was sort of happy go lucky person, and a bit ignorant as well; Nagi was obedient and serious.

"I need some data about Richard deVille. I want to know from his Wholeville Enterprise, down to his connection with Matsuyama. I want to know all, even to every detail of his breakfast this morning. You got me?"

The answer was again a nod. And Nagi took his cereal bowl to the computer room and lit up the light. The little yellow lamps glowing vaguely against the black painted wall. Darkness fit to the name 'Schwarz', which meant black, noir, kuro, whatever. Something to represent the condition with no light. Blackness is darkness itself.

A mail alert came up on the screen. There were seven new e-mails. Nagi sorted them. Two of them were bulk mails, and Nagi discarded them without second notice. Perhaps Schuldig put their e-mail address in some advertisement page in the net when he went surfing. Farfarello hardly ever touched the computer, and Crawford usually used his own lap-top for personal matters. 

The others went for Crawford. Nagi was about to send those e-mails away to Crawford's personal mailbox when he noticed that one of them was from Sakoda-sensei. He unchecked the e-mail and proceeded the other four to Crawford. It was good that he was assigned to secure all e-mails they got.

Nagi opened the e-mail from his teacher. 

Mr. Crawford,  
  
It is such a pity that you would not be able to arrange a meeting with me. But if  
that was the case; I think that we can discuss this matter on line. I believe that   
you have concern about Naoe Nagi's future. Please reply.  
  
Tomoko Sakoda  
  
Nagi hit the reply button. He thought for a while of what kind of sentences Crawford would use to reply such e-mail.   
  
Dear Ms. Sakoda,  
Thank you for your concern about Naoe Nagi's future. However, he and I have   
talked a lot about the matter. We (Naoe Nagi and I) have agreed that he would  
go to   
  
The boy thought for a while and changed the sentence;  
  
I have agreed that I would   
  
Nagi paused and he erased the whole sentence, starting right from the start;  
  
Dear Ms. Sakoda,  
I'm very grateful to your concern about Naoe Nagi. However, I am very   
much aware of the boy's future.  
  
Nagi grinned, of course, Crawford was an oracle.  
  
I believe that he has a good capability in learning and therefore I would want  
him to get the best education he could get.   
We have agreed that he would go to a dormitory school in Switzerland, to which   
I have prepared all the registration and documents needed.   
I guess this is the best Nagi and I have thought about. I will welcome any  
suggestion of yours.   
Sincerely,  
Brad Crawford  
  
Nagi thought for a while before he hit the send button. //I hope Sakoda-sensei believes this. A boarding school in Switzerland?//

//That's just soooo bad, what you did, Bub!//

//Schuldig!// Nagi wasn't aware that the German had penetrated into his mind. He hurried shielding himself from the older man, but it was no use. The door opened and Schuldig stood there, leaning to the wall. 

"Crawford would be pissed off when he knew about it."

"None of your business."

"Ah so… What if I tell him?"

Nagi turned his seat to face the man. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, don't scream. You would draw his attention. What if he comes here?" Schuldig smirked. Two blue eyes glinted in the dark. He always had fun in toying others, especially Nagi. 

"I'm warning you!" Nagi's eyes turned red. He dragged Schuldig into the room and shut the door with his power. The brown haired boy stood up while he pressed Schuldig to the wall. "If you dare telling Crawford about this, I'll make sure you crush into these light bulbs!" He set his face close to those blue eyes.

"That hurts." Schuldig was still smiling. He knew Nagi could really crush him to the lamps if he wanted to, but for now, the man would take that challenge. After all what had happened in his life, would a sting from broken light bulbs hurt him? And he felt his body squashed to the wall before he was released. 

"I don't mean to torture you now," Nagi said, "Now get out!" The door opened, and Nagi threw Schuldig out from the room. He hurry slammed back the door before Schuldig expressed any more protests.

  
"I'm sorry, it took me too long," Nagi apologized as he handed a CD to Crawford.

Crawford turned his head from his lap top and took the CD from Nagi. His eyes glared on the younger one. It was sure that Crawford despised waiting. Time meant everything to him, it worth more than money. "Thanks." And he said it dreary. 

"Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"No."

That would mean an order for Nagi to leave the room. But Nagi stayed there, silently watching Crawford as the man opened the CD with his lap top and studied its contents. 

"Crawford," Nagi said at last, "Can I ask you a question?" 

"Yes?" Crawford didn't bother to look at him, the man kept on working.

Nagi fell silent again. 

"What is it, Nagi?" Crawford stopped typing and turned himself toward the boy, "If you have nothing to say, you can just leave me working. The door is that way." He pointed to a spot behind Nagi.

"I uh…."

"What?" Crawford pushed his rim up to where it belonged.

Nagi turned his face away from Crawford. "Nothing. I'm sorry, I have wasted your time." He bowed a little before he went out the room.

  
It is impossible to talk about personal matters with Crawford. Nagi knew that well. The man cared only about his job and his ambition. Nagi respected him and feared him at the same time, but the man gave things that he needed to survive as a living creature. Food, shelter, clothes. He just forgot to give him a reason to survive then, except hatred. And that reason was the only one he could use for his ambition. If Nagi lost his interest on taking revenge on the society, he would be thrown away. 

Schuldig might be able to talk about feelings, he was the most 'human' from all the other three, at least he still had feeling. He could still determine feelings and thoughts. He was a mastermind, a telepath. He could have used his ability to understand others if he wanted to. Unfortunately, he cared not about others as long as he could amuse himself. And the only amusement he had was to toy with others. 

The only one left was Farfarello. The lunatic. Personally, Nagi didn't think that Farfarello was as crazy as the doctors thought. He was rather a psychopath by killing religious people. But for this, Nagi was totally behind his back. Nagi despised religious people too. They always talked about love, but what they did was just licking God. They made good deeds only to make sure their place in heaven, if there was even a heaven up there. He wondered.

Nagi sighed and headed to the window. Downtown Tokyo was hazy with air pollution. A grey image from a metropolis. Sometimes he wanted to jump down the building and turned himself to someone else. Someone with a different fate. Raised in a normal family, be a normal human being, without having to have his telekinetic power. He wished he could laugh as other teenagers could. He wished he could spend a weekend with his friends.

But could a person like him wished for such things? He didn't even know to whom he should say his wish. Would it be to God, who had abandoned him for much too long? Would it be to Crawford who seemed to only employ him? Would it be to Schuldig who would toy his mind even more? Or to Farfarello who would only laugh if he heard such a foolish wish? Would it be to Takatori Reiji? Would it be to Sakoda-sensei? Nagi didn't know. He only whispered his wish to himself.

He felt the cold glass against his skin. It was like the barrier that separated him from the world. Out side, he could have been an ordinary fifteen year old, but what he was inside, what he did for living, all was covered with this thin glass, unable to break. He felt like living in a glass jar amidst a moving crowd. It was like a solitary cell.

-to be continued-

----------------------------

Well, the term "solitary cell" was actually derived from "solitary shell" ... but I think the word "cell" was more suitable to describe what Nagi felt. And sorry, I wasted too much time with the e-mail part. I don't think Nagi would write such a stupid reply. A boarding school in Switzerland?? Get real!! 

Well, here is the reason why I "pick on" Nagi; I think Nagi could still feel something like this. He was only 15 and he had not been that long in the outside world. The others had gone through that stage long before.


	3. Slipping Through My Fingers

I don't own Nagi. I don't own Schuldig. I don't own Crawford, and I don't own Farfarello. In fact I don't even own Weiss Kreuz and all of its characters. I only use them for my own pleasure (and I hope that it can serve your pleasure as well.....) ^_^

Well, I don't know how this story could expand as it did. But then again, it is needed in order to give a little guess and hints on what Nagi would write. I want to let the other Schwarz member to give Nagi something for the essay. The last chapter should be the next chapter (according to my recent plot)... but who knows, perhaps it could expand.... but I really hope not. I'd rather make this story a bit short. 

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed this fanfiction. I'm very grateful that you really spare some time to write something on this. I hope you don't find the story going to degradation, if it does, please tell me and I will try to work on it. To be honest, I'm not too good in grammar and tenses... I'm working hard on it. Big thanks to Feby for the newspaper idea, though it came from my other fanfic... and also to Leon and Quince, my big thanks for being my thesaurus dictionary. 

Now, on with the fic. I'd be very happy to read your reviews.

Chapter 3  
  
Nagi slid the window open and sat on the window sill. He moved a stack of paper and a pen onto his lap. His lips drew out a sigh, and his violet eyes looked absent mindedly to the city skyline, wondering how he could start writing his essay.

His mind wandering slowly to the past, to something long forgotten, to a family he once had before all this insanity started. It wasn't too long then, but it felt like hundreds of years had gone by. He couldn't remember much of it. They were only blurred image from the past. Something he couldn't put his hands on. And they slipped through his fingers.

  
He only remembered that certain night, when he woke up alone in his room. There was noise from his parents' room. He crept slowly down his bad and headed towards the hall. His curiosity pushed him to peep through the cracks of the door.

"You bitch! You slept with another man!" that was the first clear sentence he could remember.

Nagi saw a shadow in the darkness of the room. It was his father. The man was sitting on the bed, face bent down to a figure lying there. His hand firmly squeezed her on the neck. 

"I … love … you…," the woman replied amidst her fight to breathe the air.

"You would not sleep with others if you really love me!" The man spat on her face. "You don't sleep with another man if you really love me!" He jerked the woman off to bed.

"But we need money," the woman answered after she managed to control her breath.

"And I don't earn enough?"

The woman shook her head. "You don't, and Nagi needs the money for –."

The man cut right through, "So you're willing to do anything for him, even to play behind my back?!"

"He is my baby, my son!"

"He is my goddamn son too! Do you think he's not?"

The woman fell silent, and her sobs became more distinct in the dark. She turned her head away from the man. She shook her head. 

The man grew tensed. "What? He is not?! Fuck!!" He clenched his teeth. "You bitch!" He pushed the woman down and jerked from bed. "I'll get Nagi, so he'd know what kind of mother he has." He opened the door.  
The man looked down and found the brown haired was standing in front of the door. Nagi was too shocked to move. His body was trembling. He never thought he would see what he had seen. He couldn't believe what he had heard either.

"Ha, he's already here." A strong hand took Nagi and suddenly he was sitting on a chair at the corner of the room. "You know what we're going to do with a bitch like your mother, Nagi?" The man headed back to the bed and covered his wife. Nagi didn't want to see, but his eyes refused to close. "Look close, Nagi, how your mother said she earned her money."

"I did it for you. Believe me," the woman sobbed, "I did it for you…."

"Shut up!" the man slapped her face and started to work his hands all over his wife. "How did the man tasted? Was he better than me?"

"Stop it, please… not in front of Nagi…."

"Let him see what kind of mother he has." 

The sobs went harder between her breaths. She screamed, "No! Please! No!"

"Shut up! If you don't shut up let me shut you up!" His hand began to clenched around her neck.

"I… did… it… for… you…"

"If you did it for me, you wouldn't sleep with another man, you bitch!"

"Na… gi…"

Nagi saw two wide violet eyes looking at him. And the woman's hand reached for him. "Na… gi…." She stretched and her hand grew limp. Nagi's eyes turned to his father and the man glared back at him.

"You!" He gasped, "You made her do it! You were her reason!" The man dumped the woman's lifeless body and he walked closer to Nagi and shove him off the chair. "You made her do it!" He yelled at the boy. His body bent over the small figure on the floor. "You made her do it! How could you? She belongs to me! She belongs to me only!"

The man pined the boy. Nagi could feel his breath on his face and see the glare in the man's eyes. The man. Just a man, for he was not his father. His father was a loving person. A man who adored his wife so much, and would treasure the jewel of their marriage. But this man had strangled his wife to death and now he was going to hurt his son. 

"Otousan…." Nagi started to cry.

"I am not your father, damn it! You are no one!" The man murmured. His body was shaking and he burst out a hysterical laugh, "But you might be his son. Yes, you might be his son!" He smirked as his hands grew tighter against the boy's wrists.

"Oka…san…." Nagi called his mother, but those eyes were just staring back at him. "Help…." He felt his breathing grew hard. The man over him laughed hysterically. //Somebody, help me… Somebody…// He closed his eyes, wishing that it was all just a nightmare and he would be awaken tomorrow to the sound of the whistling kettle and everything would be all right.

A burning pain on his face forced him to open his eyes again. "You look at me when I'm talking to you!" he demanded. But his voice faltered and his angry face was taken over with fear. "You devil child!" He trembled and moved back, "Your eyes…." But before he got away, his body was slammed to the wall with a cracking voice.

  
_Yokohama times, Monday,  
Another miserable homicide happened again as a young working class family ended their happy life on tragic killing last Monday. According to the police, Naoe Michiko (24) was strangled to death by her own husband, Naoe Hachiro (27). A neighbor who happened to live across said she witnessed the husband strangled his wife to death through the window. The man, however, was found dead crashed on the bedroom wall. The post-mortem could not determine what actually happened, except for the fact that all of the man's internal organs were severely damaged.   
Nevertheless, the authority said that one soul survived in this incident. The couple's five year old son, Naoe Nagi, was found lying unconscious on the floor with only bruises on his skin. However, the boy could not be questioned further because of his unstable condition for having witnessed such a horrible murder…_

  
Nagi let go a piece of paper to the air. That was the story of him. A story long forgotten, about a family he once had. They didn't exist anymore. And he just let the wind to take the page away. His eyes looked down to the street. He belonged to Schwarz now. That was his life was all about. A group of four people, trying to survive this world with only hate that had rotten their heart. He could hardly believe that he could still feel emotions, after all that had happened to him. 

He wondered, while his hand slowly let go another page into the air and wished it could take away his feelings. He watched the paper dancing away with the air, to the noisy street below, dancing into the silence of his world. He let another page fall and another, and another again until he let go all his paper. He watched those pieces moving away from him. And he wanted to let himself go….

  
"Du, Nagi," an accented voice called him from the door. 

Nagi snapped out of his day dream and realized that the sun was already setting and the sky had turned its color from blue to orange hue. He already knew who was standing at the door, but he moved his head to look at the man anyway. Schuldig was at the door, one hand still holding on the door knob. He looked gleaming in the twilight of the dusk. His hair glimmered like sunset.

"I'm going out. Want me to buy anything for dinner?" he asked.

"No, thank you." Nagi answered insipidly. He turned his face away from Schuldig and put his stare back to the crimson sky. He didn't realize that time had gone so fast and he had not written anything yet. He had no more paper on his lap. He had let every pieces of it away from his hand, each with a scribble on it. 

Schuldig eyed around Nagi's room. He noticed that the wind had blown a piece of paper to his shoes. He picked it up slowly and read the scripts, "My Family". The writing was mostly written in kanji, and Schuldig hardly understand these characters. He could only catch the commonly used ones and it gave him only random idea of the content. "An essay, I see." Schuldig stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The boy nodded slowly.

"About your family?"

The boy nodded again.

"And what are you going to write?" The German was now standing right next to Nagi. His head bent down to Nagi, but the boy still refused to look back at him.

"I don't know," he paused, "Do you?"

Schuldig sighed. He could not answer the boy either. He had no memories left of his family. It's not that he had no memories left at all, he just chose to forget them. He didn't like his past. The past was too hurting. The past tortured him. And his family belonged to the past. "I don't know," he said slowly.

Nagi looked up. He wasn't surprised on the German's answer, but the tone made him tilted his head. Schuldig was always obnoxious. He was always loud. Now his answer was like a whisper. And Nagi found the man turning his face away from him and his hands crushed the paper. The boy wondered what was in his mind.

//Don't ask anything.//

//I won't.//

//…..//

Schuldig took a deep breath and sighed again. "You can only fake it," he said finally. "You can't tell anyone about the truth."

"This truth was only lies."

Schuldig smirked at the boy's note. "You're right. We live in lies, but that's the only way to survive. That's the only way. If we stop living in this lie, we would not be able to live."

"Then why don't we just let ourselves die?"

"Because it's a sin." Schuldig chuckled at his own words. //Which would make you a worse sinner, to kill yourself or to kill others?// Schuldig thought to himself.

"Then why Farfarello had not killed himself?" Nagi asked.

And that was the answer, "Because killing others will make you a worse sinner."

Nagi turned his head back to the darkened sky. Building lamps and street lamps had turned on. Fake stars. Fake lights. And darkness lurked all over the city. The sky above looked dull against the city light. Even the stars were too frightened to show up in the dark. 

The door opened. "Schuldig," a deep voice called from the door, "Let's go." 

Nagi noticed Schuldig snapped back on his feet. "Yes, Sir," he answered, back into his usual behavior. The orange haired smiled at the boy. "You really don't need anything?" he asked.

"No."

"Schuldig, hurry. They are waiting for us." Crawford was getting impatient.

"All right then." Schuldig moved towards the door and went out.

"Take care of the house," Crawford said as he closed the door, "Don't forget to feed Farfarello and close the window when you leave the room."

  
Silence fell as the two left. Nagi stepped down and closed the window. He didn't know why he naturally obeyed Crawford. It was about eight and it was time to give the lunatic something to eat. He was often locked in his room, just for precautions. Farfarello could hurt anyone, even also his comrades. //Is killing partners a bigger sin than merely killing others?// Nagi wondered as he walked to the kitchen. He took out a packet of frozen dinner and threw it into the microwave. Farfarello would eat anything served for him.

Schuldig was the one who was usually responsible for taking care of the Irish. They usually worked together and often seen together. Farfarello seemed to obey Schuldig somehow. If he didn't, at least the German could always tame his mind. 

The microwave tone a "beep" tune to signal that the food was ready. Nagi took the food out and started arranging it on a tray with a glass of water and an apple. He picked it up and headed to Farfarello's room.

The door was latched from the outside to make sure that he could not get out of the room. Nagi used his telekinetic power to open the latches one by one and let the door open. "Your dinner, Farfarello," he said plainly as he put the tray on the floor. 

One hazel eye looked up at the corner of that darkened room. The white haired figure said nothing. He raised himself from his seat and walked silently to his food. Nagi could see dark red stains on his bandages. He noticed that the Irish's skin was wounded in several places. The man had hurt himself again. That was his ritual. Every time he got angered at God, he would hurt someone. And if he didn't find anyone to harm, he would torture himself. 

That was sick! And the fact that Farfarello had hurt himself again made Nagi thought of leaving the room immediately. What if he would rather hurt his partner rather than hurting himself? The boy hurried turning his body and was about to close the door when a pale hand caught his wrist. Nagi jerked the hand off his wrist but he froze when he saw another pale hand passed a piece of crushed paper to him. 

"Yours."

He took the paper from the white haired and studied it. It was his own paper, perhaps it came through the bars that guarded Farfarello's window. Farfarello might have crushed it. There were stains of blood on that bluish white piece of paper. Nagi looked up to meet that hazel eye. The pale hand was still holding him. Firm, yet it felt warm.

"Come." Farfarello pulled his hand and asked Nagi to join him. 

The brown haired boy came in without refusal. He obeyed and sat on the floor while he watched the man lit many candles that surrounded the room. Little flames dancing slowly as they burned the stearine. Nagi could see a cross hung upside down above the door. The room was empty from furniture. There were only candles, books, and several blades all scattered on the bare concrete floor.

Farfarello sat in front of Nagi. He pushed his tray away from him. "You wrote that?" he gestured and pointed to Nagi's hand. "Difficult matter," he said. Nagi nodded. He didn't know where that conversation might end. He looked at the paper. There was nothing written there but the title. The page was empty, and indeed, he knew not about a family, and less about his own family. He even wondered if he ever had one.

"Tell me," pale lips said.

Nagi lowered his head. He was not sure what to say, he was not sure if he had to stay there either. Half of his mind told him to leave the room immediately, but the other half said that he had to stay there. Farfarello might have the answer to his questions. Schuldig had closed the discussion then, he clearly mentioned that he didn't want to talk about family. Nagi surely didn't want to ask Crawford. He was too afraid to ask. And there was Farfarello. The man was willing to talk about it.

"Talk," the man said again, "You are in a sanctuary."

Sanctuary? From what? From who? From the world? From life? From God? From school? From Crawford? From Schuldig? From my self? Nagi wondered to himself. He looked up and met the other's one eye. It seemed flickering in the candle light. "What to talk?" Nagi asked in a hushed voice. He was not sure to speak anyway.

"You."

Silence.

"The paper."

Silence again.

Stillness came into air. Nobody spoke for a long time. The only sound was only light crackles that came from the flames. Nagi's eyes fixed to his paper but he knew that the other man was watching him closely. Farfarello sat there quietly, he did not move. It seemed that he was fixed there. Nagi, on the other hand, was uneasy. The paper was due to tomorrow and he had nothing to write about. But nevermind about his paper, his mind was burdened with his own thought; his father, his mother, life, that homicide, Schwarz, assassinations, life again, family…. What were their meanings? What were they anyway?

"Confused?" a voice broke the silence.

Nagi nodded.

"You don't have to write anything," Farfarello said again.

Nagi looked up in wonder. "Why?"

"The blank paper reveals it all," the other answered. 

The boy looked again at the paper. Aside from the title on the top left of the paper, there was no more writing. It was as blank as his mind. But then, as he remembered, he had no family, and therefore, he had nothing to write about. 

"Just fake it," he remembered Schuldig said before he left him earlier. But he had no idea how to pretend to have a family. He had forgotten what is like to be a part of one. It was too long since the last time he was caressed. He had not remembered how it tasted to be a child. No trace of memory left. No trace of feeling left.   
Nagi shuddered at his own thought. 

"You're afraid." Again Farfarello voiced from the silence.

"No."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing."

"Liar!"

"I'm not!" Nagi paused at his own denial. //Aren't we all just lies?//

Farfarello was silent again. He quietly waited for the younger one to say more, but it seemed useless. The boy still sat there in silence. Those violet eyes refused to stare at him. The head was bent down. Hand crushed the paper into a wrinkled shape. His body was shaking.

"Pretending," the boy muttered, "I'm tired of pretending."

Farfarello kept his one eye fixed on the quivering figure in front of him. He said nothing. He did nothing. It was enough for him to hear the words coming out from the boy's mouth. That was what he wanted. Truth. A truth behind the masquerade the boy had held so long as they know one another. And really, Farfarello was not as crazy as others might think. This craziness was merely his denial. It was his masquerade to keep him safe. His sanctuary.

Nagi sobbed. "I'm tired of living this lies," the boy muttered, "I wish I just go to hell. It could not be worse than this, could it, Farfarello?" He looked up to the man, asking for an answer. But the man turned his head away. He whispered slowly, barely audible, "You will not go to hell, Nagi, for your road was hard," he continued, "And only the easy road that leads to hell." 

The violet eyes widened to the words. He demanded explanation. He never heard Farfarello said such things. It sounded like a quote from the Bible. Nagi had heard once from Schuldig that Farfarello remembered any phrase from the book, and he had heard as well a piece of the man's past, how he was an obedient Christian, but he never really saw that behind this sadistic killing machine. 

There was no answer from the Irish. 

"Farfarello?" Nagi called the man. The white head turned around and looked at the boy with his sole eye. "What do you mean?"

The man tilted his head. "You don't need to fake it, if you want to," he answered, "Just say what you will. It will open their eyes." He snickered. "Just say what you will. Be honest with your lies."

Nagi looked at the man puzzled. The other calmed himself down and said again, "You have to get out your sanctuary before you're trapped in it. I know you understand what I mean." The man sighed. He stood up. "Now go back to your room. You still have an essay to write." He gave his hand to Nagi.

The boy stood and was taken to the door. "Good night, Nagi," the one eyed said.

Nagi forced a smile on his lips and muttered a good night wish. He closed the door and put the latches back again. He didn't notice the man whispered slowly beneath his breath, "God, only this time I let you be right, even though it hurts me badly. As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children." And he picked a stiletto from the floor and squeezed the blade to his skin, the only revenge he could do to his God.

-to be continued-

Finally, chapter 3 is over.... It wasn't suppose to be this long... and I really had it hard to describe the conversation between Farf and Nagi. As we all know, they both are silent. And I need to make Farf as humanly as possible, but still give a hint of his lunacy at the same time. And it really surprised me that I bothered scanning through the book to see if there's a line or two that I could use for this chapter.... 


	4. Pieces

Disclaimer: Schwarz and other Weiss Kreuss characters belongs to me not!!

Thank you to those who have waited a very looooong time for this chapter, especially Quince who always has her whip ready to strike every time I turned myself away from this fic and write other things. Thanks to my lecturers who finally give me a moment to breath now... Thanks to everyone who has reviewed in the past chapters.... And last but not least, BIG THANX to Annonymouse for doing the beta-reading.

Chapter 4: Choices 

  
Nagi turned off his study lamp and looked again to a page full off writing in front of him. The essay was finished. He looked at the alarm clock on his bedside table. It was past midnight. He would have to get some rest to gain strength for the morning. 

Silently he headed to his bed and tried to make himself comfortable under the blanket. With a soft clicking noise the lamp was turned off. The only light was the pale rays from a half moon in the sky. Nagi turned to the window and whispered good night to himself before he put himself to sleep.

It had not been an easy night for Nagi. Weariness still hung on his eyes in the morning as he poured some cereal to his bowl. He gazed at Crawford who was silently sipping his morning coffee with his eyes stuck on the morning paper. A part of him wanted to ask him to come to the Parents' Day, but the other part of him refused. What was the use of taking Crawford to such an occasion? Emotions like this were useless for assassins like them. Their relationship was only partners. Nothing more. And it was better to keep it that way.

He turned his eyes to his cereals. He just realized that he poured too much milk into the bowl. It spilled a little, but it seemed that Crawford did not notice this either. He hurried brushing away the white sweet scented drops from the table. Nagi peeked a little under his chocolate colored bangs. Crawford sat still across him; his face was hidden behind Monday paper. 

//You want him to come?// A shadow of orange walked past him. 

//No.// Nagi answered after he made sure that the orange haired German did not connect the three of them.

//Mind your own business, Schuldig!//

//He might have seen what's about to come.// Schuldig busied himself with a pan and a grab of streaky bacon. It wasn't a healthy breakfast, but what's so scary about death for an assassin? Any kinds of death, whether by gun, knife, extra supernatural power, or sickness, they're all just the same, all ends in nothingness.

//You're not telling him anything, Schuldig!// Nagi swallowed a spoonful Rice Crispies and took another spoonful to his mouth. Telepathic speaking required only the mind. 

//I don't have to.// Schuldig grinned from behind his back. 

Nagi did not answer. 

//He is a precog, Nagi. He sees everything, he knows everything.// The red-head's voice sounded so repulsive with certain stresses on some points.

//You don't have to tell me.//

//And I also know about the parents' day, Nagi. I read it in your mind. And he might have seen it too.//

//You tell him nothing!// Nagi jerked from his seat, eyes glared at Schuldig. "I'm going to school," he said at last as Crawford looked towards his direction. He hurried grabbing his school bag and left the room.

"Have you been mocking him, Schuldig?" Crawford asked. He turned the page and continued reading. Calm and collected as usual. It didn't surprise him to see the orange hair trigger a quarrel so early in the morning. It's just another ordinary way to start a day with the telepath.

Schuldig tilted his head to face a pair of glasses shielded eyes. His lips grinned wide. "No," he snorted, "We were just chatting, Crawford." 

  
Time really goes so fast for those who wait for nothing. Nagi eyed some of the parents walked about the school building, heading to their children's classes. He heard his schoolmates talking about them. Parents' Day was not that fun for teenagers. They would rather stay away from their parents, unlike the way it used to be during their childhood. 

His eyes rolled from one corner to another. Watching people was one of his favorite past time. He'd rather be a spectator rather than a player. Being a spectator didn't need to be hurt, you didn't need to feel. He could ignore things he wished not to see. He could be safe behind the screen. But then, he did not feel so right lately. He realized that he felt jealous, not being able to join in the game. He regretted he could not join in when others laugh, and no one joined him when he was crying. He was lonely. Isolated. 

Nagi shook his head to throw away his thought. He hated thinking about it and began to look around again, watching those unknown faces. There was no sign of Crawford. It was good for him. He didn't want to make any chaos at school because Crawford would surely draw people's attention to him. The man was all too much for an ordinary junior high school as this one. 

But why bother thinking about it? He believed that Crawford would not come, even if he knew about the Parents' Day. He opened his file-binder and looked again at his essay. It was neatly written. Black ink on top of an off-white paper. It was a scratch of sin upon his innocence, if he still had it. 

Drawing a sigh, he closed his binder and began watching the parents. Most of them were women. Mothers. They were talking to one another at the right hand side of the class. Extra chairs were put there while the students' desks were cramped. The normal eighty centimeters alleys between students' desks were reduced to fifty centimeters, giving extra sitting place for parents.

Noisy people. What were they talking about? Children. Complaints and praises on them. About prices that was ever increasing. Simple housewife's tales that was actually far more complicated than it seemed. Nagi knew well about the unknown hands that stirred the economy and politics. He worked for such people. He did the dirty work and took part in toying with that country, even the world, perhaps. //What would they think if they knew that the one who killed Minister Higashi two months ago shared class with their children?// he wondered. 

The bell ring distracted the boy from his daydream. Sakoda-sensei walked into the room and the students greeted her. She threw back a smile and then she turned to the parents, saying that she was very glad to see them in her class, and how proud she were to have a class like this one. It was all useless nonsense. Funny that it reminded him of Crawford and how he handled Takatori's associates. 

"… I have given the children the task to make a short essay about their families and told them to read it out loud," Nagi heard the teacher said, "I think it is good to know what the students think about their parents and family, don't you think?" Sakoda-sensei smiled. She eyed her students. Nagi's hands clasped tight. He wished that the teacher would ask the others first. Perhaps they would run out of time and he did not have to read his essay in front of the others. 

"Soumi-san," Sakoda-sensei called, "would you like to read your essay?"

Nagi drew a breath. He was relieved. His eyes followed a girl with a pony tail on her hair making her place in front of the class to present her writing. She was one of the three girls Nagi found talking about him in the locker room a few days ago. She was one of the best students in class, being in the second place after Nagi. But she looked very confident standing there, telling about her mother who raised her alone because her father left them and her little brother who always made fun of her. Nagi caught her winking to somewhere at the parents seat, to her mother. The woman winked back to her.

Nagi ducked his head lower. His bangs touched the cedar colored surface of the table. He was afraid of when he was going to be told to read his essay in front of these people. These unknown people. The eyes that would look at him and judge him from what he wrote. The lips that would whisper how ab normal his life had been. And he had no one to gain strength from. No one. At least not here.

He wished he was behind his computer screen.

  
"Naoe-san," Sakoda-sensei called, "Will you read your essay?"

Nagi jumped. "H-hai," he muttered slowly and walked to the front of the class. He eyed the people in front of him. All eyes fixed on him. Waiting. Waiting, but Nagi kept silent. He felt nervous in front of these people. He might be able to face the most villainous person in the world from day to day, but he found it hard to read a simple essay there. 

"Naoe-san, is any problems?" the teacher asked. She looked at Nagi with concern. //The boy's guardian did not make it to the Parents' Day. Perhaps he was uneasy because other children had someone from their family while he didn't.// "Naoe-san?"

The brown haired boy merely shook his head. 

"I know that your guardian cannot come, but we would love to hear your essay," the woman said again. She nodded to the parents asking them to encourage the boy. 

Nagi eyed each the people before him with a sweep of his eye. Those eyes looked back at him. Somehow he gained back his confidence as he stared into those wondering faces. His lips curled a trace of a smile and he took a deep breath before he began his essay.

  
_Life is a matter of choice, he began. Whether you choose to live in hell or heaven, it's all up to you. And the same goes to me, whether I choose to have a family or not, it's all up to me. _ He took another breath, _ I'm saying this, because I have been offered with choices and I have chosen._

_My parents died years ago and I can't even remember their faces. _

//And it was I who chose to kill my father… though… I didn't expect to….//

Realizing that he had paused for a while within his own thought, he continued, trying to keep his voice as stable as possible. 

_It does not really matter. All I knew was that they would never come back. I was put under social care for orphans. There was a rule that I learned about that place; we were put under certain numbers and systems and if we left, we would be replaced by other children. So it did not matter when somebody ran away, got ill or even died._

_We were supplied with food, clothing, and education, something I would rather call as a bribe from the government. A show to the public to gain more votes in the election. Sometimes the children were told to dress up and meet public figures or politicians, if they wanted to raise their popularity by giving charity. Other than that, no one ever cared about us. So we ended up having to take care of ourselves. Those who could defend themselves had everything. The smaller ones became the mediocre of the mediocre, as I would say._

//If I had the same evil heart I have today, I would have smashed them to the closet.//

_Many of us tried to leave. The lucky ones were taken and adopted. Others ran away. Some of them came back because at least there's food and shelter to sleep in. Some ended up in somewhere people would rather not know. I chose to stay because I thought I had no other choice until I got fed up and decided that there's got to be another way of life rather than depending on other's charity._

_It was not an easy life outside "the shelter", especially when you were only 10. But sooner or later you'd learn how to live. He gazed up for some moments before he drew out a sigh and continued, Choose the way you'd like to earn. There are some easy sources of money out there. Things that seem surreal, but they exist. And I was one of them. _

His eyes looked up and he smiled an evil grin as he saw the faces of those middle aged parents. Some looked disgusted. Some looked sorry. Some was furious. All those faces made his grin a bit wider. //Now you see this case does not only happen in newspaper. Ah, those funny faces….// He mused. The boy almost chuckled if he did not put himself under control. Some of his classmates began to whisper things.

_But as I have said before, life is a matter of choices. At some certain point, I decided to stop._

//Did you, Nagi? Wasn't it he who chose to stop you?//

_I was lucky to meet my guardian._

//Lucky? He was searching for me all over the country. And it was merely a job!//

_It was him who offered me these two choices; I could go with him and be someone or I could rot in the streets and became a ghost of the society. I chose to go with him. At least, I could become an entity._ Nagi forced a smile. He felt his voice was stuck on the top of his throat. //And he didn't give any choices. He took me away….//

_Sometimes I think to myself, what would happen if I didn't meet him. He gave me everything I've ever needed to live. Food, shelter, and clothes, everything. And I don't have to dress up to get them. _ //I only need to work for him. Clean and simple.// _ I don't know why. But when I asked him once, he said because I reminded him of his childhood. _ At this point Nagi's voice trembled and he stopped for a while to keep his breath normal. 

//I wish….// 

He didn't even dare to continue his thought. It left a hollow inside his chest. It was only a prank Schuldig made some time ago because he was upset of something concerning Nagi. It was actually nothing else. But he wished, he really wished that it was true. 

Nagi coughed a little to clear his throat. He looked at the people in front of him. The hushing voices had died away and they were all expecting him to continue. After taking a deep breath he spoke again, _ Crawford was not the only one supporting me on this choice. There are two other people. They are my guardian's business mates. The four of us live under the same roof and we solve our problems together..._

Nagi took another breath. It was just too sweet to describe their job. //Solve our problem together? You mean like killing some targets or search for some illegal data? Or doing laundry for some certain politicians?//

Scattered pieces of thoughts shuffled inside his head. 

//How long am I going to keep this lie?// It was fun at the beginning and now it felt like a burden to continue reading. There was still one paragraph to read. Funny that it was not that hard to write this joke down the night before. Now it stared at him like a gapping hole. Once he finished the essay, he had to deal with what people thought of him.

_We support one another and stand back to back on anything. Perhaps it's because we are all alone in this world and we have no one else to lean on. We are like a band of brothers. I can always count on them just as they can always count on me._

There was another pause before he continued.

_Funny, isn't it? You see, I lost my family long ago, out of a choice I did not have._ Nagi forced another smile on his face as his sight blurred a little, and he whispered, _ But since life is just a matter of choice, I have chosen them to be my family._

  
- ende des Kapitel 4 -  


I redid the whole lay out ... and I hope I didn't forget to put the italics at the right places... please do tell me if you found any.... I'd gladly replace them.

Now, on to the next chapter... or just a tiny little review first? ^__^


	5. Fallen Angel

Disclaimer: it's getting into my head now... Weiss Kreuss and all of its characters belong to Takehito Koyasu/Tsuchiya Kyokou/Project Weiss ... I just wish I didn't misspell anyone ... Fallen Angel stolen from an old hard rock song from the 80's by a glam band Poison, though this fic has nothing to do with the lyrics... 

No words can express my gratitude..... Thanx to all of you who had reviewed and still support me on this... Again, big thanks to Annonymouse for doing the beta!! ^__^

Re-uploaded because I just found that I forgot to put a certain line inside... it's only one line, but it's quite important.... 

Chapter 5: Fallen Angel

  
He was not sure why Schuldig forced him to come. The orange haired broke into his office at lunch time and dragged him into his car. That German didn't explain anything. It's not that he needed an explanation; he could already see where the man took him. He thought it was just impolite not to give a clue on what the telepath was thinking.

The car stopped at a building. It was a schoolyard. "What's the point of this?" Crawford asked as Schuldig parked his car. He remembered the building very well even though he only came by once. It had been quite a long time since he took Nagi there for the first time. A year. No, two years ago.

"You'll see." Schuldig gave a nasty smirk. He pushed the alarm button. There were three beeping sound from the car. "Come now, Nagi is waiting."

Crawford hesitated, but he followed the German anyway. "Tell me what's your point taking me to this place?"

Schuldig stopped at the school's main entrance. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said in his teasing manner, "Don't tell me you don't know about the Parents Day, Brad. Nagi is expecting us." He pushed the double swing door open and entered. He kept one of them open with his left hand and gestured Crawford to enter. That man walked in, though he looked uncertain of his move.

"I do know about the Parents Day," Crawford shook his head. "But I do also know that Nagi understands about our circumstances. An assassin is not supposed to take care about this matter. He does not want us to come." He stopped. "He has done what I expect him to do. He has told his teacher that no one will come. He even rejected his teacher's wish to meet me. He knows what to do, and he has done it well."

Schuldig turned and faced the tall man before him. "You might have seen what he has done, Crawford," he continued, "But I'm the one who can hear his thoughts."

//I'm the one who hears his cries.//

"Stop this nonsense, Schuldig." He turned around, heading back to the empty schoolyard but Schuldig stopped him.

//I respect you, Brad, that's why I promise you, no one will know we're here. Not even Nagi. Come now, before I force you to.// A set of long fingers grabbed the oracle's arm and took him inside.

  
Crawford followed the lean figure before him up the stairs and down the alley. The alley was empty, but on the left side of them, behind the gypsum partition walls, people were gathering. The American could see a glanced of vista from small rectangular openings on the door. It's been such a long time since he last had parents visit at school. It was a very long time ago, 22 years ago, exactly a day before his life scattered into pieces. He smirked. 

They stooped at one door. Above the doorway was a small sign read "III-C". There was a little girl with pony tail standing in front of the class; she was reading something from her hand. 

//I hope Nagi has not yet read his. I wanna know what he wrote.// Schuldig's voice suddenly popped up in his thought.

"His turn will be after this girl…." Crawford murmured in reply. His eyes gazed to nothing and Schuldig quickly understood that his partner had just had a sight. The man snapped from his position, giving a sign that he was back on the ground.

"I'm out of here," he said, turning his heels. 

Schuldig quickly caught the oracle's arm. "The show has not yet started. Don't leave now." His telepathic power began to search in and out of the leader's mind, wondering what made the man suddenly determined to leave. He caught several sights. It seemed that Crawford had let them loose for Schuldig. Nagi was standing in front of the class, reading. There was nothing extraordinary from that boy; he was standing with his serene posture. But something in his eyes, something in his eyes made him stop a while.

A woman voice from inside the class brought Schuldig back to reality. "That was wonderful, Soumi-san. Now, let's see… Naoe Nagi. Naoe-san, will you read your essay?" And he saw a small figure stood from the middle of the class and walk up to the front of the class. He looked uncertain for a while but as the figure looked up to face his audience, he seemed to collect himself again. 

//He's a good little liar,// Crawford smirked, //I saw what he wrote yesterday. Sweet little liar. You'll love to see how he play with those parents.// He fixed the position of his glasses and continued, //You'll see how they react.//

//Brad, sometimes things are not the way they seem to be.//

  
_Life is a matter of choice, he began. Whether you choose to live in hell or heaven, it's all up to you. And the same goes to me, whether I choose to have a family or not, it's all up to me. I'm saying this, because I have been offered with choices and I have chosen._

  
Crawford and Schuldig watched the small boy closely. 

  
_My parents died years ago and I can't even remember their faces. It does not really matter. All I knew was that they would never come back. I was put under social care for orphans. _

_There was a rule that I learned about that place; we were put under certain numbers and systems and if we left, we would be replaced by other children. So it did not matter when somebody ran away, got ill or even died._

_We were supplied with food, clothing, and education, something I would rather call as a bribe from the government. A show to the public to gain more votes in the election. Sometimes the children were told to dress up and meet public figures or politicians, if they wanted to raise their popularity by giving charity. Other than that, no one ever cared about us. So we ended up having to take care of ourselves. Those who could defend themselves had everything. The smaller ones became the mediocre of the mediocre, as I would say._

  
//That's interesting.// Schuldig commented.

//He's a Schwarz. What do you expect from him?//

Schuldig looked up and saw the pool of brown eyes meters away from him. There was anger there. //You're pretty good at making him despise the whole world. Congratulations to you, Brad.// He reached his thought to Nagi and carefully hacked several thoughts from him. He carefully connected the three of them. 

  
//If I had the same evil heart I have today, I would have smashed them to the closet.//

Crawford grinned a satisfied smile as he heard the thought echoing in his head. He remembered how he brainwashed the boy to hate the whole world. That vulnerable little child he found years ago had changed so much. 

  
_Many of us tried to leave. The lucky ones were taken and adopted. Others ran away. Some of them came back because at least there's food and shelter to sleep in. Some ended up in somewhere people would rather not know. I chose to stay because I thought I had no other choice until I got fed up and decided that there's got to be another way of life rather than depending on other's charity._

_It was not an easy life outside "the shelter", especially when you were only 10. But sooner or later you'd learn how to live. He gazed up for some moments before he drew out a sigh and continued, Choose the way you'd like to earn. There are some easy sources of money out there. Things that seem surreal, but they exist. And I was one of them. _

  
Schuldig nearly chuckled as he saw the faces before Nagi. Eyes and mouth wide open. Some even gasped. 

"I wish I could listen to all of their thoughts without making Nagi knows that I'm connected to him," he whispered to Crawford. Even in this state he needed very hard to concentrate.

"He's good," Crawford nodded. 

  
//Now you see this case does not only happen in newspaper. Ah, those funny faces….// 

  
"He's a devil clad in white," Schuldig grinned.

Crawford merely nodded. 

  
_But as I have said before, life is a matter of choices. At some certain point, I decided to stop.  
_

//Did you, Nagi? Wasn't it he who chose to stop you?//

  
_I was lucky to meet my guardian._

  
//Lucky? He was searching for me all over the country. And it was merely a job!//

  
_It was him who offered me these two choices; I could go with him and be someone or I could rot in the streets and became a ghost of the society. I chose to go with him. At least, I could become an entity. _

//And he didn't give any choices. He took me away….//

  
_Sometimes I think to myself, what would happen if I didn't meet him. He gave me everything I've ever needed to live. Food, shelter, and clothes, everything. And I don't have to dress up to get them._

  
//I only need to work for him. Clean and simple.//

  
"It seems that he's angry with you."

"Anger is much better than depression."  


_I don't know why. But when I asked him once, he said because I reminded him of his childhood. _

  
Nagi's voice faltered there and a buzzing voice took place from the audience.

  
//I wish…. No… Don't wish…. Just don't….//   


Schuldig tilted his head to the man next to him. He didn't show any signs of concern in his face. It seemed like Nagi's scraps of thought was never heard in his head. But the telepath could not penetrate further than merely connecting the three of them. A false move and Nagi would realize that they're just behind the door. 

"You don't seem to be moved by his thought," he said slowly.

Crawford raised his hand to push his glasses back to place. "I do," his answer came cold between his gritted teeth, "I need to talk to him as soon as he gets home. Such thoughts should never cross his mind."

"And you'll make him your obedient doll." The orange haired sighed. 

"And you're the one to blame for making such a crap."

"I'm the - ? Hey?!"

"Shut up!"

  
There was a light cough before Nagi continued. 

  
_Crawford was not the only one supporting me on this choice. There are two other persons. They are my guardian's business mates. The four of us live under the same roof and we solve our problem together..._

  
//Solve our problem together? You mean like killing some targets or search for some illegal data? Or doing laundry for some certain politicians? How long am I going to keep this lie?// 

  
Silence

  
//I'm tired….// 

  
_We support one another and stand back to back on anything. Perhaps it's because we are all alone in this world and we have no one else to lean on. We are like a band of brothers. I can always count on them just as they can always count on me.  
_

There was another pause.

  
_Funny, isn't it? You see, I lost my family long ago, out of a choice I did not have. _

  
//I//  
  
//need//  
  
//them//  
  
//to//  
  
//…//

  
_But since life is just a matter of choice, I have chosen them to be my family._

  
//love//  
  
//me//

  
  
The small figure in front of the class looked shaking. His fingers crushed the paper in his hand. But he was not crying. He did not shed a tear. Only his thought was radiating a silent cry. The female teacher walked toward him and tried to give comfort.

"I'm out of here," Crawford spoke suddenly; making Schuldig snap his mind of the two other Schwarz members. The German was breathing hard. He was carried away. 

"Don't listen to him," the baritone voice continued, "We have other things to do. Beside Nagi will walk out that door in seconds."

Schuldig shook his head to clear the echoes inside his brain. "Tja…" he murmured and quickly moved away from the class. 

- (let's just say it ends here) -

Not satistsfied? Wait for fragments, sequels, or even more chapters in the future...!


	6. Emphatic Telepathy aka Lovechild

**Disclaimer: **Schuldig, Nagi, Farfarello, and Brad Crawford belong to me not. So do Eszet (I don't intend to keep those crazy old triplets anyway), Weiss boys and any Weiss Kreuz related characters. Lovechild is inspired loosely by the name of the architect of das Jüdisches Museum, Berlin.

**Blabbers:** I removed this fic from separated ficcie I made some months ago... I changed the idea of making it a real fragment of the fic, like a sequel or something... because I wrote it after Chapter5: Fallen Angel (which I did consider as the end of the story then) and later after I wrote this, I wrote the continuation (not sequel) of the fic and put the Farfie and Crawfish chaps under the same umbrella of My Family, instead of uploading them into "Fragmented Pieces of My Family" ... I have removed that title and so I thought about putting Schu chapter under this umbrella as well... don't sue me... this is merely fic-organizing.... I DO NOT put multiple non-unique chapters.

Thanks to Annonymouse for beta reading the fic… try check her fics… she's cool!

**Fragmented Pieces of My Family: 1. Emphatic Telepathy aka Lovechild  
**  
Nobody spoke along the way back to the apartment. The only sound that accompanied the two members of Schwarz was the joyous voice from the radio. Both were drawn in their own thoughts. Crawford who was sitting at the passenger's seat did not even look at his partner. His face set in a sulk, but Schuldig was not sure whether it was because of Nagi, or him, or just both.

What was he doing anyway? The red head didn't even know the answer. He was only following the urge that came into his mind this morning as Nagi jerked from his seat and left the apartment. It was something that suddenly rang inside his mind for a few seconds before it vanished away. Perhaps it wasn't his mind at all. Perhaps it was a mere radiation from the boy's mind that somehow left traces of wills in him.

Schuldig drew out a sigh. He noticed that Crawford didn't even bother to glance at him. The black haired man usually did. He was easily distracted with unnecessary gestures and exclamations. The man was too deeply lost in his thought, Schuldig made a note to himself.

A shudder of fear came across his mind suddenly. What if he was really going to do something to Nagi about this? What if he meant it when he said that he needed to get things straight with Nagi? What if…?

He shook his head gently, focusing himself to the traffic. Nevertheless his head did not work cooperatively with his will. It kept on going around the same subject. The cries. Those cries gave him a shudder.

"Hit the brake," a silent monotonous voice suddenly heard from the American sitting next to him. It was barely audible and Schuldig tilted his head to the man next to him with a questioning expression.

"I said, 'Hit the brake', now!" Crawford said in a demanding voice. And as Schuldig turned his face to the road again he realized that the car in front of his had stopped. Luckily the sport car stopped at time, leaving only a few millimeters distance from the one in front.

"Phew, that was close."

"Keep your thoughts on the traffic," Crawford said coldly as he turned his face from Schuldig.

"Yes. Sir!"

"And don't mock me. I'm definitely NOT in a good mood."

"You're not fun!"

Nevertheless, Schuldig decided to stop being obnoxious as a pair of hazel eyes glared at him intentionally. He sighed again. He had to take Crawford back to his office as soon as possible. It didn't really matter if the man was in his office or not, to tell you the truth, with such a high position in the party, Crawford could just come and go as he wished. But no, he's rather be seen as a workaholic in order to maintain all the make-up he had built for Eszet. It was a wise decision anyway.

He remembered a few days before as he entered Nagi's room to find a somewhat dramatic picture before him; a silhouette of a small figure sitting on the window, leaning against the sill, looking at the setting sun, with pieces of paper lying across the room. He didn't know how long he stared at the picturesque view before he decided to call the boy and asked if he had wanted him to get something to eat his way home later. 

The child answered in a bored tone as he tore his look away from Schuldig and stared again at the crimson colored sky. The dusk hue made the sky colored like blood. But it only smelled of carbonmonoxyde and not the coppery smell of blood. He was also admiring the grace of nature as the light turned to black when a piece of paper made its way to his feet. He picked it up slowly and looked at the scarcely written paper.

He was about to hand the paper to the boy when something caught his eyes. "My Family", the title said. There was not much to reveal from the writings. He only knew commonly used kanji characters, but it talked about father, mother, whistling kettle and birthday gifts. It somehow tore him apart.

"An essay, I see," Schuldig stepped into the room. He kept his mind to himself, knowing that the boy's mind would be filled with many things that perhaps he was not ready to cope up with. The boy merely nodded as if he didn't care that Schuldig had came into his room or if the older man was going to mock him as always. He was not in the mood to fight back anyway.

"About your family?"

And it was answered with another nod.

Schuldig reached the window and he could now see Nagi's face from the side. His eyes stared blankly at nothing. His eyes looked empty and it seemed scary for Schuldig. Those midnight blue eyes showed no sparkle of life. The telepath raised his mind shield even more, not wanting to get carried away with any negative emotions. If anything was his weakness, it would be others' negative thoughts and feelings, though he could manage to overcome them. But not if it came from any Schwarz members. They were too emotionally connected to him.

"And what are you going to write?" he asked slowly, though he was not sure where the question came from. It was not his business anyway.

"I don't know." This time a low murmur came from the brown haired.

There was a moment of dead silent before the boy spoke again, "Do you?"

Schuldig was surprised to hear the question, but he only let out a sigh. Family? What was the meaning of family to him anyway? They were gone. They had vanished. And Schuldig had vanished from them. It didn't matter. Life continued to turn even without the existence of his family. But the word left a drop of bitter taste in his mind. He sighed again to drive away his memories. They had been locked hidden way, way on the back of his mind so that he did not need to remember. "I don't know either," he said half whispering as he turned his face away from the boy, not noticing that his hand had crushed the paper.

Don't ask anything!Schuldig hurriedly put a defense before the child questioned him even more.

I won't.the sound of his thought was so silent as if he had given up everything.

Schuldig stayed speechless. His mind was trying to construct a conversation as more than half of him wanted to do. Some part of them just wanted to run away from facing the question. Eventually the later finally gave up as he voiced, "You can only fake it. You can't tell anyone about the truth."

"And this truth consists of lies." He murmured.

Schuldig's lips formed a smirk at the boy's note. After all truth and lies are not as clearly shown as black and white. "You're right. We live in lies, but that's the only way to survive. That's the only way. If we stop living in this lie, we would not be able to live."

"Then why don't we just let ourselves die?"

A good question and it was answered as if to fool five year olds, "Because it's a sin." Those silly words built up yet again another silly question in his mind, which would make you a worse sinner, to kill yourself or to kill others? The question amused the telepath until another question heard from Nagi.

"Then why havn't Farfarello killed himself?"

"Because killing others would make you a worse sinner."

But looking back again, it might not be the right answer. Perhaps Farfarello was only too afraid to kill himself and let his suffering ended. Schuldig admitted that he was too afraid to cross the line, not knowing what he could expect from the other side. And dying hurts sooo badly.....

"You are such a soft hearted person," a voice heard from the past. 

"Am I?"

"Yes you are. You understand people easily."

He felt a faint blush crept on his cheeks.

"I think you can join my peers, Lovechild."

Lovechild? An old nick-name forgotten. BANG!! There was blood everywhere, on the carpet, on the cedar table, on his school uniform, and before him was a boy sprawled on the floor, hands clutching at his chest where an open wound was pumping out thick crimson liquid. 

A gun slipped out from his hand and cluttered on the floor.

"It hurts," the boy said, "Dying hurts…."

And his eyes closed shut, eventually his lips curled to form a trace of smile on his face as if he was free from everything.

You are such a soft hearted person, Lovechild. You care for others as if you can hear them….

He shook his head again, trying to push away his memories, focusing his mind on his recent problem. Why did he have to take Crawford to the school? And why did his mind keep on changing from thinking how sweet it was to see Nagi twist truth and lies in front of his audience and how he felt the same depression the boy cried inside his head. Perhaps they were not his mind at all; perhaps it was half Crawford's and half Nagi's. And where was he then? Maybe he was the one who needed to be re-adjusted.

But he wondered what Crawford was going to do to Nagi. He should not punish the boy merely because he radiated those hopes. Nagi was not yet an adult, though what he had experienced made him more mature than those of his age. Nagi had performed quite well in front of his class anyway, despite of the silent emotional gesture he made at the end of his essay. But it was alright. What would those people think if he was standing there expressionless? It would be too… inhuman…. After all, Nagi was still a child; he had not turned as ice-cold as the stoic leader. He had not turned crazy – in normal human measurement – as Farfarello. The boy had not turned… like him. Nagi was the most normal person in Schwarz. Couldn't he just keep that for a little more time?

However, Crawford was right in his own way of thinking. Schuldig could definitely understand why the oracle wanted to keep Nagi from the soft side of human being. The soul underneath the innocent look of the fifteen years old was already impure. He had tasted the feeling of killing a human. He could tear a human in just one blow of power. And he had done that. The stain of blood could not be erased, no matter how you bleach them.

And Crawford would not be so annoyed if he didn't care about the boy. He knew about that. The leader might seem to only care about the missions but it was a matter of their safety anyway. If what Nagi told the class triggered some over-curious parents and teachers to perform an investigation, Crawford would need to do his best in order to keep them quiet. It would ruin everything and put Schwarz in danger at the same time. What if Schwarz had to be disbanded because of that foolish essay? He, Crawford, and Farfarello would be alright. They could work on their own. But Nagi would be put under social care once again, or if things got worse, he could end in juvenile jail.

The thought gave him a shudder. No, that would not need to be done. He would do his best to brainwash all of the people even if it meant to be paralyzed from brain damage for all of his life. He would do anything for Nagi…. No, he would do anything for Schwarz, and Nagi was a part of it. He simply did not want to see any of his team mates fell apart.

"Brad, you're not going to do anything to Nagi, right?" Schuldig finally voiced after a long struggle inside his mind. The car had already parked on the lower basement of Crawford's so-called office.

"It's none of your concern." The American walked out of the car and shook his coat to make sure that there was no wrinkle on it.

"It is, damnit! I don't want to suffer myself, hearing his whimpers!" Schuldig was surprised to hear what came out from his mouth. But he was thankful that it was better than to tell his true reason, Crawford despised such mellow feelings.

"You're such a selfish little spoiled brat!" Crawford spat. His words were a bit too exaggerated but it was good to let out his already rising temper. "I need to get him straight for our own good. For Schwarz. And you," he stopped, nudging his index finger to the telepath's chest, "you will stay away from this matter. Is that clear?"

Schuldig froze silent. It was clear that Crawford was very annoyed with this matter. There was no doubt about it, and Schuldig did not even need to penetrate behind those hazel eyes just to know about it. It was clearly written in each of his gesture.

Looking away was the only thing that Schuldig did to answer Crawford. He spat.

Crawford straightened up his back. "And if everything fails, I know who to blame now." He walked away to a small entrance where an elevator took him to the highest level of the building where his office was.

The German telepath drew yet again another sigh as he leaned on his car. "Schei'!"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------end of fragment 1**

**Note:** as I said before, Lovechild was taken loosely from Daniel Libeskind. It happened when I was searching for a precedence for my recent project and my lecturer suggested to see the philosophy of das Jüdisches Museum, Berlin (no, I'm not going to talk about buildings here). I mused myself with the name Libeskind and turned it into Liebeskind (really, I didn't mean any harm to the name), literally translated to English as Lovechild.

**More Blabbers:** As for the Farfarello POV on Nagi's matter... it would need some time to think and contemplate about. Farfarello has the most difficult mind to understand.... whereas for me, Schuldig is the easiest one because he's my most fave and I tend to read more of his fics than the others. The pieces of thoughts in Crawford's head had already penetrated in me... so it's just a matter of time to wait 'till I feel that I need an escapism from the whole final project I'm currently working. These fics would keep my mind straight.... NOT!!

And how come that the nick-name Lovechild came to appear in Schu's life? Who was Lovechild anyway? Well, those are questions that would not be answered in a simple explanation. It will be explained in - I hope - a one-shot. Just wait until I can arrange everything..... But for short... have you ever seen the video of Skid Row's 18 And Life? If the answer is "yes", I think you have just deciphered what actually happened with Lovechild and his dying friend.

Enough about my extra not-so-necessarily written blabbers... it added like 400 words into the fic!!


	7. The Thread that Binds

**Disclaimer: **Schwarz and any other Weiß Kreuz characters both mentioned and unmentioned belong to me not.... they belong to Koyasu Takehito, Tsuchiya Kyokou, and Project Weiss.

**Author's blabbers:** After being taken into other ficcies, I suddenly got something to write on this fic again.... It's very short, but ... ^__^ By the way, I write also fragment (separated story) on this fic, the title is obvious; "Fragmented Pieces of My Family" ... how uncreative!!! But well, I'm just not good in giving titles and summaries. 

Now enjoy the fic...... ^__^\/

**Chapter 6 : The Thread that Binds**  
  
  
When the school was dismissed, Nagi waited until the building was deserted before he went down from the roof top where he calmed himself down. The room was empty when he came back. The chairs had been arranged back to the normal classroom formation, rows of desks and chairs. He noticed a small note on his table. His hand took the piece of paper and read the scribble on it. 

  
_Naoe-san,   
I am really sorry to hear what had happened to you. Perhaps as a teacher, I may not be able to do much to you. But in case you want to talk to someone, you can always call me.  
Tomoko Sakoda_

  
Nagi thought for a little while before he crushed the paper and threw it into the trash bin. He didn't feel the need to accept the offer. Being the person he was today, he would not let himself surrender to his feelings, he told himself. He even felt stupid to have written such an essay. Something that had torn open old wounds. No, thank you. He didn't need the teacher's help.

He walked out the door, out of the school into the quiet evening. The sun had already set in the west side. Its' round shape was not seen due to the dust and smoke pollution above Tokyo sky. The only thing seen in the sky was the twilight of reddish lines on the blackened sky.

The boy hurried his pace and left the school into the urban area where he lived. His school lay as the buffer area of urban and sub-urban; dividing the living area and the working area of the city. Most of his schoolmates lived in the rows of houses at the neighborhood area with their families. 

He plunged himself into the busy street. Somehow he felt safe in the middle of the moving crowd. Nobody noticed him there. A strange fondness of people. So many people who mind their own business and would not notice him being there. Such a strange fondness entwined with hatred and disappointment. It was the same crowd that had abandoned him some years back.

He looked around him. It was true. Nobody noticed him there. Perhaps if he cried there, nobody would ask him what had happened. Perhaps if he decided to throw himself to the busy street to be hit by a car, they would only see it as an amusement. And on the next day they would have forgotten the dead boy's corpse they had seen earlier. Busy bees watch the world go by. They didn't have to care about it.

A honk brought him back to the world and Nagi barely avoided the passing car. He didn't realize that the pedestrian light had turned red. There were some people murmuring about today's youth being ignorant and breaking rules a lot. Some eyes looked down to him.

If they ever found out what he really was…. A wolf clad under sheep clothing, an assassin inside a body of a fifteen year old. He nearly broke into a shrill laugh. Nagi nearly screamed hysterically if the light had not turned to green and he had to move along with the pedestrians to the other side of the street.

  
  
  
Nagi entered the apartment silently. He took off his shoes and put on his slippers. The living room was empty. Schuldig was not there. It was not really a surprise. The German would sometimes leave his couch and go somewhere. Perhaps Crawford had given the red hair a mission. The American was nowhere to be seen either.

The thought of Crawford made Nagi wince. He could not guess how the leader would react if he knew what had happened in school. Surely it had only been an essay reading, nothing more, but he was somewhat afraid that what he had written could endanger Schwarz's existence. Bringing up the whole subject in front of people was not easy. He would have to face the feeling of being pitied, something he despised ever since he entered Rosenkreuz several years ago. Not to mention, it would draw people's attention to him.

He was really about to cry when he finished reading his essay, but all that he could let out was only the urge to squeeze the paper and run away. Coward! He had run out of the class to avoid Sakoda-sensei's comfort. Even though he wanted so bad to be touched, he chose to ignore it and got away. His next days would not be easy if he let himself be embraced. And who could promise him another embrace if he submitted to one?

A noise from Farfarello's room made him realize that he was not the only one home. He walked toward the latched door and opened it one by one. 

"Farf?" he asked while his hand pushed the door open. Farfarello was sitting silently on the floor. The room was dark as usual with only several candles to act as light. He was bruised and bleeding. It might have been his revenge towards God. "What are you doing?" Nagi asked. It sounded foolish because he already knew the answer.

"Killing God," a hissing voice answered. "He had let another lamb go astray." He let out a shrill laugh and lifted his face to Nagi. "You see, Nagi." He pointed to a piece of broken glass on the floor. Nagi assumed that Farfarello had hurt himself using the piece. There was dark red liquid on its edges. And it must be Farfarello's blood. 

"Come," Farfarello reached out a hand towards Nagi. It was gushing out coppery tasting liquid. "Come," he hissed again, "Look for yourself."

Nagi left the door wide open and walked inside. Farfarello's voice somehow mesmerized him. It was not against his will though that he stepped into the room. He once felt that somehow, someway, the Irish understood the way he suffered. Same hurt feeling. They only differ in the way they reacted. While Nagi became distant from others and closed himself shut, Farfarello cursed the others and hurt them back, physically.

"Where is it, Farf?" Nagi kneeled beside the Irish, "I can't see anything."

"Here," Farfarello took the glass from the floor. "Look," he said as he brushed the glass' surface, which only made it covered with a thin layer of blood. "Look," Farfarello voiced again. He held the broken piece to Nagi's face.

Nagi looked at the piece and realized that it wasn't glass. It was a piece of broken mirror, and he was looking at his own reflection. It looked vague beyond the red curtain of blood, which only made it more dramatic. "I see nothing," Nagi lied. He turned his face towards the white haired man.

"Look again," Farfarello ordered. He moved behind Nagi and wrapped his arm around the smaller boy. One hand holding the piece, the other holding Nagi's face to look down into the mirror. "Tell me what you see in the mirror!"

Nagi looked into the mirror and once again he saw the face of a small boy. His eyes were empty and distant. Like an empty shell stranded by the sea. He felt Farfarello's hand let go of his cheeks and it moved to the looking glass. Its fingers traced the edge of the mirror, letting out more layers of red curtain on the surface. The boy shuddered at the view. Even if he had been around the Irish for several years, he hardly ever seen the man hurting himself.

"You see," the Irish man continued his speech, "We are looking at a strayed lamb. Look, he's looking back at you." Farfarello wrapped the boy closer. "But it's alright now. I have found the lamb. He will be under my care. He will feel safe, won't he?" Farfarello asked.

Nagi nodded slowly, not letting his stare from his reflection. It was blurred now. But he did not know whether it was from the blood on the mirror or if it was because of the tears that flooded to the corner of his eyes. "He feels safe with you," he murmured.

"And he will take revenge to what has been done to him."

"And he will take his revenge to what has been done."

**

- presumed: unfinished - 

**

I like Farfarello and Nagi.... they are such cute vulnerable persona .... I can't help to write the fic... though it's very, very short...... but I think it's very touchy.... ^__^

Oh, I'd like to ask you what do you think if I put some Weiß character into the fic...? Or should I stick up to Schwarz only?

PS to Moussy: I keep the title... it's kinda poetic for me... 


	8. Broken

Weiß Kreuz and its characters belong not to me, nor its original stories.... Anything written here is not intended for commercial use and if harm is done and one feels offended, I will take this away from here (and put it somewhere else)......

Note: I decided to put my fragments of My Family into one story. I lost one review... but I think it's better to put this way so people would understand the time line better. However, the chapter numbering will not change. The "chapters" revolve around Nagi's world, surroundings, and thoughts, while the "fragmented pieces" revolves other characters. 

Now that I have made it clear... on with the ficcie..... ^__^

**Fragmented Pieces of My Family 2: Broken**  
  
He left Schuldig at the basement, among countless cars, in the middle of still air, heavy of poison and smoke. Let Schuldig be angry, he told himself as he made his way to the elevator. B_ut why should he bother about that little child? Why did he care so much about Nagi? Why did he ask me not to do anything about that stupid essay?_ He took his way to the elevator, watching every step he took as he kept his head down.

The elevator was closing as Crawford looked up and saw the red head looking back at him from where he stood. _Those eyes seemed like they wanted to fight me. What for? To protect Nagi from me? Don't you understand that I want to protect our existence?_ He drew out a sigh. _This is far more complicated that how I imagined. _

The scene still lingered in his mind. Nagi stood before the class, reading his stupid essay. And those voices in his head were still echoing, "I want them to love me…."

_Have I not loved you enough, Nagi? Have I not loved you enough by not giving you false security, false hopes?   
_

  
The elevator reached the seventh floor and the elevator doors opened. Crawford fixed his glasses to its place and walked out from the lift. He gave a slight nod to some employees who were waiting for the elevator. They gave polite greetings in almost the same time. These people, although they seemed to respect him, he knew too well that they only feared him. The real truth was that they hated him to death. Why trusting everything to a foreigner if there were many native Japanese who would sacrifice their lives to be in his position.

He headed straight to his office and sat on his leather chair. Ever since Takatori's death Schwarz was assigned to take care of another Eszet's supply of income. This man, Nakama-san was not a politician, so Eszet didn't pay attention as much as the way they did towards Takatori. But this man was a good smuggler. He smuggled both goods and persons. The man provided many ways for Eszet to play dough in Japan.

He looked at several folders of documents. He had to check them out and then take whatever steps necessary for each problem. His job in that office was to make sure that every operation worked. He only needed to concentrate enough about the operations and he would see what he needed to do. It was not really a hard job. It was actually too easy for him. This job had no challenge.

But this afternoon he found that he couldn't concentrate enough to focus on what the future would bring for the business. He kept on going back and forth to that little boy. Nagi. He remembered his eyes then. They were the same eyes that he saw once long ago. 

  
  
He found that little boy on one afternoon as he visited one of Eszet's hands, Amamiya Kaoruko. He hesitated as he took his way towards the little chapel. It had been so long since the last time he visited a church, leave a lone attend a mass. He had even stopped celebrating Christmas and Easter. He had stopped since he lost everything dear in his life. 

The chapel along with its neighboring buildings formed a dramatic silhouette against the crimson sky. Its slender bell tower stood higher than anything else visible, and the evening breeze brought soft sounds from the bell. A small wind vane turned along with the sound of the bell. 

_What a strange thing to be put on a church rooftop! _

As he came to the door he heard a soft voice singing from inside the building. It was a voice of a child, singing just like a little cherubim worship its creator. The words came into his ears like whispers of an angel.

"Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Quien Dios tiene, nada le falta. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Solo Dios basta…. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Quien Dios tiene, nada le falta. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Solo Dios basta…. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante –"

The voice fell into silence as the door creaked open. There was a boy standing before the altar. He looked so small, bathing in evening twilights that went through the glass works. The child turned his face; and to Crawford everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. There was a cat in the child's hands. It purred and snuggled even deeper in the child's hold.

"You sang that song?" was the only words that could come out from his lips. 

The little boy looked up to him and he nodded. Crawford was not sure whether the nod was meant to salute him or to say yes. They didn't seem to matter anymore. He was drowned into the big round eyes before him. There was something there. Something so strong. Something so deep. It's like this child held so many things in his hand. 

His vision blurred and he knew he would see something. There would be future with this little child. This must be the child they were talking about; the child who owned great power inside his lithe body. The child wanted so much by Eszet.

Suddenly the cat hissed and jumped of from the child's hand. The boy snapped and screamed as he loosened his hold from the animal. Crawford stepped back.

A pair of dark brown eyes looked at him. They were trembling. And the little boy mumbled, "The cat hates you," and then he ran to follow it.

  
  
_The cat hated me….  
  
He hated me….  
  
Perhaps he still does….  
_

  
Crawford threw his pen on the table and lay back on the leather chair. Slowly he hummed, "Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Quien Dios tiene, nada le falta. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Solo Dios basta…. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Quien Dios tiene, nada le falta. Nada de turbe. Nada te espante. Solo Dios basta…." 

_Don't let anything worries you, don't let anything frightens you. Those who hold on to God will always be fulfilled. Don't let anything worries you. Don't let anything frightens you. Only God helps you._

He didn't know why he sang the song. He had heard it long ago, even before he met the Japanese boy. He remembered his mother used to hum the tune for him when he felt sad. Or was it somebody else? He Couldn't remember clearly.

Did Nagi understand the meaning when he sang that song? He had only understood Japanese then. He had not even been able to write kanji properly.   
Crawford just realized how many years it had passed ever since he took the child away from under the ruin of that old church. How long he tried to put the pieces together desperately while no one ever helped him, while what Rozenkreuz did was worsened the whole situation. Schuldig and Farfarello never seemed to care about that boy either. 

But broken porcelain could not be mended into a new. You would still be able to see cracks under its glaze. Just like what he did to Nagi. He only put them together and put layers of numbness around the child's feeling. A fragile coat for a little soul. A shell to protect him from others. A sheer protection he put to harden the little boy so that he would be able to take care of himself. He tried to make him stronger a little by a little. He tried. He did try.

Hate was always better than a feeling of despair. That was the only thing he knew to survive. That was the only thing he could do to make him survive. He knew no other way for they had failed him long before. 

He hated his job. He hated his life. He hated Takatori and Eszet. He hated this new person Nakama too. He hated the world and the universe. He hated everything. The only things he had not yet managed to hate were Schuldig, Nagi, and Farfarello. 

But those whom he loved and those who loved him would always find early deaths. Those who cared for him suffered until the end of their lives. Those who helped him were played like strings in God's hands until its thread became twisted and entwined and they stopped moving.

And since he loved the three dearly in his heart, and because he didn't want them to die yet, he would always try to make them hate him. And he would hurt them until they were strong enough not to feel any pain. So they would live and live on. And they would survive this wicked world. And let him be the only one broken when they had to separate. 

His grips tightened as he tried not to scream. How he wanted to let go of everything. But it was not yet the time. They were not yet ready. He was not ready either. He had to try again and again until he dissolved completely into the fun of hurting. So he as well would not miss anyone nor be missed by anyone when he's gone.

"… I'm sorry, Nagi… but I have to… I have to…."

****** to be continued ******

OK... that's another chapter. I'm such a s--l--o--w person... not to mention moody too..... Crawfie's plot has been around my head for quite a while... but I just could not write it down properly. Before I came out with this version, I had to erase like 15 paragraphs because after reading it once again... they just didn't make sense at all! 

I included several hints of Dramatic Collection1: The Holy Children. I used Yuki Scorpio's translation as my reference. But I cannot resist to change several facts here and there.... This fic is definitely turning slightly more AU... the real fact is that Nagi did not kill his father but his mother... and I made Nagi's first time of meeting Crawford at Sister Amamiya a few years earlier.... But what the hell!! I still love to write it. 

Thank you for reading the ficcie up until now.... Review if you find it suit your taste... Tell me if you find it worse than before... Tell me if you despise it.... I will gladly read whatever you write for me.... Ja ne!! ^___^ \/

PS: the song Nada de Turbe is a Taize song... it's sung over and over again in a Taize prayer. I hope I didn't give wrong translations.... Sorry for putting such loaded religious stuff into the fic... I hope none of you felt offended..... 


	9. Uncommon Sense

Re-edited... and put to better lay-out...

_italics_ means telepathic... i just realized that the double slash went away...

Yes, I finally write 'em up... 3 chapters in a row....

I hearsay declare that Weiß Kreuz belongs not to me... it belongs to Koyasu Takehito-sensei and all other respective people.... I'm only having fun with it.

**Chapter 7: Uncommon Sense**

****   
  
Nagi woke up and realized that he was lying on warm wooden floor. He must have fallen asleep. Darkness surrounded him. The air smelled like burned stearine. The candles had died and he felt wind blowing behind his back. The door was ajar and Farfarello was not there.

"Farf?" he called as he rubbed his eyes. They seemed to be swollen by tears. He looked around and there was no sign of the Irish team-mate.

The boy got up.

"Farf?" he called again, this time staggering himself towards the door.

There was no one in the corridor. Everything was silent. There was no sound in the house, even the traffic noise from the street seemed to be far of in a distant time. Farfarello must have gone from the house, Nagi snapped. That was bad. Every Schwarz members knew they had to keep the lunatic inside his room, except for duty, off course, and he had let the white haired gone away.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. His eyes wildly looking for any clues where the other one had gone and he caught drips of blood on the floor. Farfarello hardly bothered to bandage his wounds. Scars were his body-art. It was like tattoo and body piercing.

The trail led to the front door. That was a bad sign. He could be anywhere and it would make it harder to find him. Off course he was very easy to locate among the Japanese with his pale skin, bleached hair and scars, but Farfarello was not stupid enough to let himself be seen – except by his prey. It was like a bad premonition.

The boy hurried taking his over coat and ran to the elevator. He pushed the button many times and stomped his feet on the vinyl flooring. It seemed to be taking a long time for the elevator to reach the floor. The box was empty and he hurried pushed GL for ground floor and he wished the lift wouldn't take anymore passengers. The penthouse had limited elevator access, but there's no guarantee that he had total privacy on the way down.

The wish was not granted. It stopped after it went down two floors and a very fat woman came in. She was clad in some kind of flashy garments. They lived in a luxurious apartment building and there were also these bourgeois people living there. The woman must be one of them, judging from the way she was dressed. He saw Nagi and smiled.

"Are you going to cram school?" she asked with flowery tone.

Nagi shook his head but the woman seemed not to notice it.

"My son goes to cram school too," she said, "He's actually not that bad at school, but he's very lazy. I wish he'd make it to Fujikei next semester, but I think his second choice was OK too." He looked down at Nagi, noticing the pins on Nagi's uniform, and asked again, "You are a third grade, aren't you? Ah, you're studying at Seishiki College. That's a very good school. I wanted Takuya – that's my boy's name – to study there but he failed at the enrollment test. Which high school is your first choice? But I'm sure you could just continue your study at Seishiki. Its high school is also excellent. It's rather expensive though, but in this apartment who cannot afford it?"

Nagi wanted so bad to crush the woman into the aluminum panel to shut her up, but lucky for her, the lift stopped again and another woman came into the box. She seemed to know the other one and the fat woman began to ignore the boy. The two chatted about their two sons who seemed to be best friends. Nagi sighed with relief when he learned that none of the boys went to his school.

Finally the elevator hit the ground floor. Nagi darted out but found himself bumping into someone. He looked up to say sorry but his words froze in his mouth. Off course, being in one of the most frightening assassin team in the world doesn't mean that you have to be impolite. Unlike Farfarello, Nagi usually avoided unnecessary fights, but it must be noted that the person had to be settled for the "sorry", if not, Nagi could also be dangerous.

"Where do you think you're going, Nagi?" Crawford asked. He seemed to be in a bad mood but his tone was layered with something Nagi could not decipher. "Could it be looking for one of our members?"

"Crawford… o-o-kaeri…," Nagi muttered. Instinctively his head lowered to keep away from the American's glance. Something about this man always scared him.

"I'm not even home yet," grumbled the man. He sighed as if to get rid of his emotions. "Come. I've been waiting for you. I thought you would never wake up."

The man grabbed the brown haired boy by his arm and dragged him to the basement where Schuldig had waited inside his car.

"Get in!" he shoved the boy into the back seat and then turned to Schuldig. "Get moving and stop smoking! I hate the reek of your car already." He took the cigarette from the red head's lips and crushed it into the ashtray.

The red head muttered several strings of curses in his own tongue but he obeyed his leader anyway and sped outside the apartment building. "Where do I have to drive to, Crawford-sama?" he asked in teasingly.

Crawford glared at him but then he turned himself to the back seat. "Where did he go, Nagi? You must have a clue."

"I… I really don't," Nagi mumbled. He only knew that Farfarello must have gone out, but he couldn't guess where he headed to. Farfarello liked to hurt religious people. He might have gone to a church or monastery but he could also be found randomly tormenting people.

Schuldig spat, "Brad, aren't you the one who have the precognition? You're supposed to know where he heads to right when you called me." He calmly opened his window, took a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it to Crawford's disappointment. He liked to smoke cigarette to enhance his concentration when driving a car. Nicotine gave him a kind of calmness that nothing could give him.

"Didn't I tell you not to smoke?" Crawford yelled at the German.

The car stopped at red light.

"Look, Brad, first of all, this is my car, and second, it's my right to smoke here." He stared at the American with irritation. "If you don't calm down why don't you have one yourself? This thing refreshes your mind." He took his cigarette from his lips and shoved it into Crawford's.

The traffic light turned green and the car started to move again.

The American hurried taking it from his lips. He hated to be defeated, but somehow he took it back to his lips and drew a deep inhale of nicotine blend and tobacco. He realized he was almost losing control on his emotion. Thank goodness Schuldig kept him in check. Everything seemed to be wrong that afternoon starting when Schuldig dragged him to Nagi's school. And now Farfarello was missing.

Off course he already knew what the Irish might do. Precognitive visions didn't always tell the real future. It only told what might happened if nothing wringed it. Crawford sometimes thought the oddity of the future and his precognitive ability; how the ability of people to choose could make a big change to the world and made his visions gone amiss. A little butterfly's wing flaps could create a whole thunderstorm in the other side of the world. Well, that needed a very long explanation then.

But most of the time, if he concentrated hard, he would see what might happen with all those alternative of choices made by others. The only problem was to determine which choice would be chosen. And there were too many people who had this freedom to choose, and there were too many possibilities. That's why he hated God to give such freedom to mankind.

Right now he was not still sure which of the alternatives he had seen might happen. There were too many factors to see, though he only needed to check on two particular persons. But these two had already given him too much.

_Brad, where do I have to drive to? We can't find him by driving around, right?_

_Nagi might know how to get there… but…._

_Schuldig stole a glance towards the man at the passenger's seat._

_Since when do you have a heart, Brad? I never knew you're so considerate towards the brat._

_Shut up!_

"You don't have to be so tensed," muttered the German apparently he smiled to see Crawford smoking, it had been a very long time since he last saw that. His hand reached to the mirror and adjusted it to be able to see the boy at the back seat. He only needed the rear view mirrors to drive, the other one was not so necessary for him. "Du, Nagi, where do we have to head?"

The boy shrugged. He didn't know either. He was thinking of following the blood trail that Farfarello left behind, but he knew it was not a wise decision. Farfarello healed quickly, the bleeding would stop soon and he would loose the trail.

"Smart thinking," said Schuldig, "You're not genius for nothing. But I don't like driving aimlessly around Tokyo, especially if I'm the one paying for Benzin."

Nagi glared at the driver. Schuldig must have read his peripheral thoughts, the unnecessary thoughts that he emitted. He kept the important ones to himself.

"Why don't you use your radar and search for Farfarello yourself?" he grunted.

Schuldig gave a sigh, "And losing the fun of searching? Oh, c'mon!" He waved his hand as if he just heard something ridiculous. Of course Nagi had his point and Schuldig could actually do that if he wanted to. But searching for a person would meant that he had to turn down his own barrier and that would make thoughts from other people going into his head unfiltered. He usually did it to find persons in Rozenkreuz, but people there had barriers.

_Schuldig, I think I've seen that sign before._

"Yes, Braddy dear?"

"Turn left." Crawford pointed left.

The red head followed the finger and saw a large department store sign. "Of course you've seen that thing. That road leads to Nagi's school. You saw it this afternoon when I drag you there– ah…!" Schuldig just realized his big mistake.

"You were at the school?" Nagi moaned in disbelief. Now he really was in big trouble. If the two of them was at school, that meant they were there when he read the essay. That also meant that Crawford knew about the parent day and what he wrote. Crawford would make a big fuss about it. He had to thank Schuldig for taking the American there. He had mentioned it clearly, "…when I drag you there."

"Moron!" was the only word that skipped through Crawford's lips.

Nagi shrugged again but then he started to open his mouth, "Look, about the essay, I didn't write anything about us. I don't see why you have to keep a secret that you come. Why didn't you enter the class?"

"You were already in front of the class and reading," Crawford answered shortly. His right hand moved up to fix his glasses to its place. He was covering up something. Nagi had learned from his years living with the American that he always did it when he was not telling the truth or if he were up to something. The only natural-born liar in the group was Schuldig. Farfarello hardly ever tell lies. For him lies and truth didn't exist.

"But you were the first to hide it from me."

"You said you didn't want to attend any school business, so why telling you?"

"That doesn't mean you can keep it secret as you like."

_So it's becoming a personal matter, Papa Brad?_

Schuldig's lips curled to a satisfying smile. At least now he was sure that the leader cared about the youngest one anyway. He knew Crawford wouldn't do anything bad to him. Off course a punishment would be obvious but it wouldn't be something to be afraid of – in a Schwarz point of view, that is.

_Shut up!_

_But I like to see him this lively. Don't you, Brad?_

Crawford glanced at Schuldig but he said nothing. The red head's smile widened to a grin. He felt like he had just won a big war. He had made the stoic American speechless two times this evening.

"I only thought it would be wiser not to tell you something unimportant," Nagi still tried to defend himself. He looked sulky.

Crawford crushed his cigarette on the ashtray. "We'll discuss about this later." He looked outside and saw that they had just passed Nagi's school. The car headed on to the suburban housing area. It was already dark. The city light polluted the sky and turned into dull purple. He hated city light. They were all fake.

"We have to find Farfarello. I hate unnecessary killings," he continued after a while. He was still looking outside but his gaze was fixed on something unseen. The night breeze blew on his face as the car sped still. The road was empty.

Nagi and Schuldig both stared at their leader. They knew he was getting those visions again. Something was about to happen. Farfarello is up to killing someone and it seemed that he was not picking his victim randomly tonight. Something in Crawford's words made Nagi grew uneasy. He rarely cared what the Irish was doing. One less person in this world usually meant nothing to him. But tonight was different; he wondered whom the Irish meant to torture tonight.

"Do you know the victim, Crawford?" he asked.

Crawford snapped but he soon gained himself. He turned himself to the boy. "A woman, end of twenties, I suppose. Oval glasses or something like that," he paused, "Funny, but I think I've seen a figure like that today." He fell to silence again, "Could it be…?"

Now Nagi felt as if his heart beat was pounding faster.

"Who's she?"

He felt like he was not going to like the answer.

"What do you mean, Brad?" Schuldig bothered to voice up his mind.

Crawford turned to Schuldig. He answered, but he didn't sound quite sure about it, "She reminds me of a woman I saw at school today."

Nagi gasped, "You mean…." His mouth hung open for a while. There were a lot of women at school that afternoon, but somehow the only one he could think of was, "Sakoda-sensei?"

  
- tbc -

I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to say Tank or Benzin.... Schu's inserting a bit of German here.

Write me a line of review... the button is not too far away.


	10. Mother Goose

Re-edited to better viewing pleasure...

Weiß Kreuz does not belong to me... I gained no profit but the freedom to play around with my muses....

**Fragmented Pieces of My Family 3: Mother Goose**

The woman watched all the class emptied away from parents and children. Her eyes looked around the classroom and saw the vacant classroom. The children had put the chairs and desks back to their original position. The extra chairs had already been taken away to the storage room downstairs.

The parent day was over. However she had not felt as if she had done her duty as a teacher. Her eyes lay upon a bag. The owner had not come back yet to fetch it. She sighed. Naoe Nagi had been one of her favorite students. He never got the first rank in each year but she was certain it was not because he was not smart. It was only the matter of his presence in class that held him from getting the first rank.

Ever since he came into the school last year, Naoe had already been taking absence for more than 30% of his school days. She once phoned his guardian, but the foreigner merely told that the boy was not feeling well and could not come to school. He never told what kind of sickness the boy had, she guessed that the guardian sent some health test to the doctor at the school infirmary for the school never made fuss about it. But he could always cope up with the studies anyway. Naoe Nagi was a genius. Nobody doubted about it.

She really loved the child and she always noticed that the boy always ate his lunch alone at the school garden. He never worried about making friends to anyone. He seemed to make a certain barrier from the outside world and she always wondered about it. But that was only until today. The essay revealed quite an answer to her questions. For a boy who had such a past, she wouldn't wonder that he become asocial.

* * *

She looked outside the window and wondered where the boy went. She regretted that she didn't try to pursue him when the boy went out from the class. She did call and followed him outside the class, but as she got out of the door, the boy was already gone. The class seemed to be aroused in anxiety. The parents were all talking about him, and the children were whispering to one another. She had to calm them down and told them not to make the problem bigger but to treat the boy nicely – but not too nicely for it might make the boy's distrust towards the society even bigger.

She was also an orphan. Her parents died of a car accident when she was a child. But could live with her old-fashioned grandparents who forbade her to do almost anything she liked. She once also hated the whole world for leaving her all alone. She missed her parents sometimes when she was a child. The children also made fun of her. Being an orphan seemed to be a big mistake.

And this Naoe Nagi; she never knew what happened to his parents. He was transferred from Germany – a very far country, that is. Perhaps that's why his guardian was also a foreigner. Perhaps Naoe's parents used to live abroad and died while they were there.

She never personally met the guardian. He only came once to take the boy in and it was Kawahara-sensei – the second grade teacher – who met him, but she saw him when he came. From all the female teachers at the school, who didn't? The guardian was still young and he was handsome too. But it was a kind of cold beauty that the man gave out. He seemed to be far high in the sky for people to reach. There was this barrier that would never let anyone came closer to him.

She often wondered if a man of that kind could fulfill his duty as a guardian. But somehow she felt, from only a short glance of the two together on the boy's first day that the man did care about the younger one. At least today's essay seemed to show that the boy really looked up to the man.

* * *

The sun was going down and the clouds turned husky crimson. She didn't realize how long she stood there gazing to the sky. She sighed and looked down at her watch. It was already late and she had things to do at home. A friend of hers said she would come to her home this afternoon. 

The boy still had not come yet.

She packed up her things into her hand bag and walked to the door where she paused to look back at the lonely school bag on top of the table. She hesitated for a few seconds but finally she went back to her desk, took out a note book from her bag and stooped to wrote down a short note to the boy. She left the paper on the school bag and then she left the room.

* * *

She loosened her braids and the black curls fell down her back. The room was not spacious; in fact it was rather small. It has two futons already spread on the floor and her friend was lying there lazily reading a woman magazine.  
"The parent day was tiring, you know, Chii?" she said as she loosened up her clothes and changed into an over-sized white shirt. She wore only underpants and no bra underneath. They were going to make a small slumber party anyway.

"Lucky for you, you work at the bank and you don't have to deal with those noisy parents," she continued again. Her hand took up a comb from the dressing table and she started to comb her hair.

"Ne, Tomo-chan," said the other girl. She always called the junior high school teacher with her childhood name. "So what the boy you told me the other day write about?" she asked, throwing a jealous glance at the flowing locks on the curvaceous back. "Hey, why not dye your hair with purple tone? I'm sure it would make you gorgeous. Perhaps you could snare a man or two and share one for me?"

Sakoda turned around, "I cannot dye my hair, Chii," she exasperated, "Not while I'm still teaching at that school." She came down from the chair and sat by her best friend. She drew a sigh and looked long at her.

"What?"

"What what?"

"The boy! I mean, you were so anxious to tell me about him and his Greek god guardian, and now that the day's passed you're not going to tell me anything?" Chii demanded. She raised herself and sat. Her shoulder length hair was permed and dyed light brown. Sakoda used to envy the freedom of appearance the other one had.

Sakoda looked away. She wanted to tell her best friend about the whole thing that happened at school that afternoon but she just didn't know where to start. Did she have to tell her about the whole essay? Or did she only had to tell the cover story of it? She always told her best friend about everything, but she didn't feel it decent to just tell others about what the boy had experienced in the past.

"Well, for one thing," she finally voiced, "the gorgeous guardian couldn't make it. The boy said that he was out of town or something."

"Mou, that's not fun!" Chii frowned.

Sakoda knew well that Chii actually was only interested in the guardian. Well, what do you expect from a woman who always fails in love? A handsome man would always do.

"But he's not married, right?" asked Chii again. She seemed to be absorbed in the idea of the foreign guardian and Sakoda felt grateful for that. At least she didn't have to try filtering the essay to her friend.

Sakoda shook her head although she wasn't quite sure. A handsome man such as Mr. Crawford wouldn't find any trouble of picking a woman or two for his pleasure. She couldn't imagine the man getting married though. He seemed to be not made by the heaven for that purpose. Perhaps he could entertain women, but definitely only for the fun of it.

"Good!" Chii voiced, "If he's not married, then you perhaps can take him." She grinned, "I mean, you've been lonely for such a loooong time ever since that stupid Hiro abandoned you. It's time for you to set up a new. I think it would be a dream come true to see you wed this foreigner."

"Chii!" Sakoda screamed, "He's my student's guardian! I cannot do that! And I have only seen him once. That's not going to go anywhere, mind you?"

The man was indeed handsome, but it was not him she was concerning about. It was the boy. She wondered what he's doing right now as she had her fun with a friend who's staying over. The boy didn't have any best friend. She bet he never felt it how to stay at a friend's house and spend the whole night chatting and playing together. That was just sad.

"I'm taking a shower now." Sakoda stood, "Maybe next time I should stay over at your place. I'm dying to take a bath." She frowned, "When I get a raise I'd move to a bigger place with ofuro so I can take a bath as I please."

"You'd better do so, Tomo-chan," Chii answered, "I don't like to have a friend staying over at my house because my mother would always knock our door before midnight and tell us to go to sleep."

* * *

She stepped into the shower and drew close the curtain. Soon hot water came pouring upon her body. It was relaxing to have the liquid trickle over your body. It soothed away tiredness and troubles. Ofuro was a better option but she could not yet afford a room with one.

Her mind floated once again towards the boy. Was he trying to suppress a cry then? She wondered. Maybe she would to ask him to talk tomorrow at after school. She despised having to act up herself in order to be seen discipline as the school demanded from its teachers, but she sure loved to teach. She also cared about each one of the children in her class. She knew most of them well and they knew her quite well.  
  
"I hate shepherd who abandons his flock," someone hissed in her ears.

- tbc -

Yeah, I just wanna write down how an outsider sees Nagi... I think this works just fine.... tell me what you think...

Now, please push down the button below and tell me what you think about Sakoda Tomoko the teacher.


	11. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle

Re-edited for better viewing ... hehe...

Weiß Kreuz and all of its characters belongs not to me....

* * *

**Fragmented Pieces of My Family 4: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle**

Farfarello looked at the little figure in his arms. The boy was sleeping soundly from tiredness and tears. He brushed his fingers upon soft brown hair. The boy sure looked like a doll when he was sleeping. At other times, he would look even more surreal. A speck of human feeling that the boy just showed made Farfarello felt as if he was cradling a porcelain French doll. Soft, fragile, and delicate.

He often wondered why the boy he had a certain attachment towards the youngest member of Schwarz. He sure hated Crawford for the only thing the American had done was to order him around. Off course, Crawford had given him many toys to play. But sometimes he also forbade him to. And Schuldig for him was more like a partner in crime. The red head understood him well; as he understood almost everyone he met. He also loved to torture others and Farfarello always loved it when Schuldig relay the thoughts of their victims to him.

With Nagi it was very different. There was this strange feeling that came to him whenever he saw the boy. The Japanese boy never bothered to talk to him until that day when he found a sheet of white paper flying through the bars of his cell. He never bothered talking to anyone.

He put the boy down to the wooden floor and stood up. Taking silent steps as not to wake the boy, he blew the candles and headed to the door. He stopped there for a while and stood in silence watching the grey figure on the darkened room. Slowly he whispered to the sleeping form.

"Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?"

He fell again into silence. His hand was still holding the mirror piece and his hands were still bleeding. He took up his right hand to his mouth and licked the crimson colored liquid. The smell of copper filled his nostrils. It smelled much better than Crawford's aftershave or Schuldig's deodorant. It also smelled better than the soapy scent of Nagi.

His left hand lifted, taking the mirror to his eye level. He enjoyed looking at red drops that fell from his gushing hands. "He shall have his revenge," he muttered, "Right, Nagi? We will have our revenge."

He dropped the mirror to the floor and it thumped on the corridor's thick carpet. The bloodstains were not easily noticed on the maroon fabric. Crawford carefully chose dark colors for the apartment so that they did not have to spend too much money for cleaning. It also kept them away from inquiring cleaning service.

"Good night, Nagi."

Farfarello took the fire exit to go out of the building. He hardly used the elevator. It was meant to trap a prey, and as a hunter, he hated to be lured into such thing. He preferred the emergency stairs. He could jump out whenever he wanted and there was more space to move in.

Trail of blood followed his movement. The Irish did not seem to care about it. It would heal soon anyway. He knew. He did not feel anything anyway. He did not even feel hurt. He did not even suffer blood loss. The blood for him was like tears to others.

He had lost his ability to cry a very long time ago, and the only way to let out his depression was to make himself bleed, as if the blood would drawn away all his sorrows. And the more that trickled down his wounds, the less his sufferings.

* * *

The sky was dark but the glow from street lamps and store lightings illuminated the city. The rays fell on the trees and cast dull grey shadows on the pavement while its reflection created a strange purple aura in the sky.

The man avoided the streetlights, keeping his strides under the shade of the tree. He did not want to be seen. He did not like unnecessary meetings with people. The only thing that needed to be aware of him was his victim. He liked to torture people and not merely killing them. What was the joy of short killing like the way Crawford always did? The torturing was fun. And it was like ecstasy to watch them die.

He liked to make sure that his prey would die in peace for he no longer wished to live. Then killing was not sin. He was helping the prey to release himself from sorrow, from the worldly pain that bound him to life. The killing was meaningful. It had its own ceremony, from the head down to toe. Killing must be beautiful.

His steps stopped in front of a gate. Beyond the gate, he could see a big building. The sign at the gate said "Seishiki College". He knew he would not find his prey there, but he would be able to find where he could find it. Lightly he leaped over the gate and he ran to the building. 

It was easy to break in; even the students sometimes did it. He made his way along the corridor until he found the administration room. He opened the lock with one of his knife. He knew how not to leave any marks. He was professional.

He moved towards the filing cabinet near the desk and started to search for his victim. Firstly, he looked for Nagi's file and checked which class he was in, and then he started to search for another file. The file he was looking for was under the letter S. He despised the letter. S reminded him of Eszet .

"Sakoda Tomoko," he hissed the name.

* * *

He arrived at the housing area a sometime before midnight. The roads were empty but Farfarello could still see life in each building. Most of Japanese stayed until late at night and arose early in the morning to do their commuter lives. A person living in that area might be working about three or four hours away from there. It was something usual in that country.

The apartment buildings looked gloomy. It was very different from the building in which Schwarz lived. The buildings had four storey and they had no elevator. The walls were made of brute concrete, revealing lines and joints of the cast. It looked cold and unfriendly. There was no lobby to ensure security; everyone could just access the stairs and corridors easily. They were one of the government's mass housing projects in the seventies.

A dog was looking for food at the nearest garbage collector. It jumped and dashed away as Farfarello walked closer towards one of the buildings. Animal instinct was better than human's. It could feel the heavy atmosphere that surrounded the Irish as he walked closer to his prey. The one eye glinted in the dark like a cat.

The room he was looking for was on the upper most floors. It was the furthest one from the stairs. That condition was very conducive for a murder plan. The prey was cornered and it had no way to go. Moreover, there would need quite sometime before help could come.

Farfarello smirked. He loved it. He loved it so much. It was as if the owner of the room was willing to die tonight. He walked lightly on the corridors. From far away he heard a baby wailing and there was also a quarrel somewhere far off, but the rooms on that corridor were silent. The occupants seemed to have settled themselves into relaxing atmosphere of a home.

Slowly he peeked into the intended room. He could see two women talking one to another. He did not know which exactly his prey was, but another toy was welcome. He would love to have extra chance to kill someone. With cautious steps he took a way around to the balcony.

* * *

"I cannot dye my hair, Chii. Not while I'm still teaching at that school," the first woman said frustratingly. She was brushing her long black locks. She came down from the chair and sat by the other one. The first woman turned her head to look at her friend. She stayed that way for a moment.

"What?" the woman called Chii asked. She snapped her finger before the first one. The second one also had curly hair, but it was shorter and it was dyed in lighter shade than most of Japanese.

Apparently, the first woman must be the one called Sakoda Tomoko. He had seen her photograph attached at the file and she had this long jet-black hair.

"What what?"

Chii frowned, "The boy! I mean, you were so anxious to tell me about him and his Greek god guardian, and now that the day's passed you're not going to tell me anything?" Farfarello saw her raised herself and sat.

Sakoda looked away as if she was thinking about something.

"Well, for one thing," she finally voiced, "the gorgeous guardian couldn't make it. The boy said that he was out of town or something."

"Mou, that's not fun!" Chii sulked.

A teacher who only thought about men must be a bad one. Farfarello licked his knife in excitement. He loved to kill, but mostly he loved to kill with revenge. A heartless torment would be perfect for these women. Anyhow, the one-eyed wondered what kind of charm that Crawford used to capture these defenseless women. What's so gorgeous about Brad Crawford anyway?

"But he's not married, right?" asked shorthaired woman again. She seemed to enjoy talking about the leader of Schwarz that much. The man at the window snorted as he imagined Crawford getting married. That was so out of concept. Those women surely did not know what they were talking about.

The other woman shook her head.

"Good!" Chii voiced, "If he's not married, then you perhaps can take him." She grinned, "I mean you've been lonely for such a loooong time ever since that stupid Hiro abandoned you. It's time for you to set up a new. I think it would be a dream come true to see you wed this foreigner."

"Chii!" Sakoda screamed, "He's my student's guardian! I cannot do that! And I have only seen him once. That's not going to go anywhere, mind you?"

The figure outside the room grinned. Of course you won't be able to marry him, he thought, you're not going to meet anyone anymore.

"I'm taking a shower now." Sakoda stood, "Maybe next time I should stay over at your place. I'm dying to take a bath." She frowned, "When I get a raise I'd move to a bigger place with ofuro so I can take a bath as I please."

"You'd better do so, Tomo-chan," Chii answered, "I don't like to have a friend staying over at my house because my mother would always knock our door before midnight and tell us to go to sleep."

* * *

He watched the woman undressed. Her figure was womanly perfect with beautiful curvaceous shapes. That was just the type Farfarello loved to carve on. The more perfect the body was the sadder God would be. She walked into the shower and pulled over the curtain. Soon Farfarello heard the sound of trickling water and the small bathroom soon filled with steam.

Farfarello broke in through the window. It was big enough for a man to enter. He looked out from the bathroom and saw that the other woman was putting a CD into the stereo set and listened to it using headphones. Everything was perfect. It would be a big success if could kill the woman without letting the other knew about it.

He slipped himself out and with one effective movement; he slit the woman's throat. She did not even have time to realize what had become of her. The CD player kept playing the silent song.

Without any feeling of remorse, Farfarello calmly went back into the bathroom. He wanted to play longer with this one. He watched the silhouette of the woman as she scrubbed her body thoroughly with soap, obviously not noticing the presence of another person in the room. He let her finished cleansing herself. A sacrifice is always best when it is clean and pure.

Slowly he stepped forward to the shower and hissed to the woman's ear, "I hate shepherd who abandons his flock."

The woman snapped. She hurried turning off the faucets.

"Chii? Is that you?"

She was about to open the shower curtain but two strong arms suddenly grabbed her from the back. The arms were pale in color and it was bandaged in many places. She could also see gashes in the hand that went up to close her mouth.

"I'm sorry, she's sleeping right now," he whispered, "She won't hear you."

The woman tried to jerk free from the hands but they were too strong for her. She screamed but the hands drowned her voice.

"Hush, hush," said Farfarello as he dragged her to the living room. The dead body of the other woman was still there drawn in her own blood. "See," he cupped Sakoda's face and turned it towards her best friend's body, "The bird has stopped chirping chii chii…."

She tried to break free again. This time she bit hard into the hand, expecting the owner to jerk it off. It gushed out blood, but to her surprise, the man only lifted his brow as if he was surprised. He did not seem to feel anything. He did not seem to be hurt at all. He merely lifted up his hand to his lips and wetted it with the crimson colored drops and then he drew it to the woman's lips.

"Here," he said, "the color is much better for your lips than lipstick."

His fingers traced her lips. She wretched from nausea but unlike any other female victims he had, this woman seemed to be able to hold back her hysteria and thought clearly.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"Revenge."

"What for? Have I done you wrong?"

"I'm only helping someone else," the man hissed again, "You have proven yourself an unworthy teacher. You have let one sheep from your flock gone astray. What is so good about him anyway that you'd use a student to bait his guardian?"

Something came to dawn in her mind, but before she opened up her mouth, a calm, emotionless voice spoke.

"Haven't I told you I hate unnecessary killings, Farfarello?"

  
---- to be continued ----

Hey, whaddya think... shall terminate Sakoda-sensei or not? Write me a line by puching the review button below!!

thank you for reading My Family this far..... I'm so happy


	12. Finale

Whaa!! Sorry for such a long delay. I got many, many things to do... I've got several projects in my hand and everything.... Yups... now I'm not anymore a student... haha... i've just graduated a couple of weeks ago..... Nyahahah.... so much for the news... The fic's done about a week ago and I sent it to my beta reader... unfortunately, she's very busy with her college and she told me that I have to upload this version and upload the betaed version later when she's done....

Now on to the fic... aeh, ahem... wait, i almost forgot.... hereby I say that Schwarz and other Weiß Kreuz characters both mentioned and unmentioned belongs to me not... they belong to the sexy voiced Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiß. I gained no profit but freedom of evpression and lots of reviews....

Not: _italics_ means telepathic speaking... I changed this because the uploader refused to perview those double slash...

* * *

**My Family: Chapter 8: Finale**

The car stopped at a housing complex. The buildings made a gigantic skyline. In Tokyo, each time you turn around, all you'd see was the city skyline and worm-eye horizon. 

"Are you sure he's around here somewhere?" Nagi voiced.

Crawford glared at the boy and then nodded. There was no need for further questions. He knew well that the older man never liked to be questioned by his inferiors. Nagi decided to keep his mouth and followed Crafword who was going out of the car. Schuldig went out as well.

"Come," the American commanded.

The other followed his assured steps. The apartment was silent. It was already past midnight. Most lights from the building were already off. They reminded Schuldig of old tombs, giant tombs, and inside them lived zombies who did their robotic lives from day to day. He hated it.

The silence was eerie. Once in a while you'd hear people speaking but you would not know exactly where it came from. A dog was watching them closely from near a garbage collector, as if afraid that the three human was going to rob him out of his territory.

"That building," Schuldig whispered. His hand raised to point at one of the buildings, "Farfarello is right there."

Nagi looked at the building and he shivered. It was not the cold. It was something more terrifying, something that could not be understood. He had seen so many people died in front of him. What was the scary thing about adding one more memory about corpses?

The three climbed the stairs quietly. There were still sounds coming out from one or two rooms. One which was clear enough to hear was airing some late-night commercials. Schuldig spat. He hated the show. Crawford and Nagi remained emotionless, but the telepath knew that Nagi was a little nervous than he usually were. The boy was looking around. 

_Is something bad going to happen? _Schuldig asked the leader.

_No. I believe it would be a good thing, for us._

_Can I ask you what it is?_

_No. I'd rather keep it for myself._

Schuldig lifted his eyebrow to Crawford. He was sure that the youngest one also noticed his slight questioning look. He might be aware of what was to happen. Off course, even if Crawford despised unnecessary killing, he would not stop Farfarello once the Irish got his prey. More likely was that Crawford was to tell Nagi to watch Farf kill the woman. That was mean. But Schuldig could understand the reason. It was not good to have an attachment to anything when you were in this business.

They stopped in front of a room, the furthest from the stairs on the upper most floor. There were faint sounds and voices inside. They recognized the male voice as Farfarello's. They were much too familiar with it. 

Crawford stepped to the door and opened the key. It was not a hard work for him. It amused Schuldig sometimes where he got the ability. He was never sure of Crawford's past. Crawford was the one who knew all other members' past.

The American opened the door slowly and stepped inside. They saw a woman lying in crimson lake near the stereo set. But it was not the real prey. Farfarello loved to play longer with his preys. Other people he killed were only for fun.

The black haired man stopped before the bathroom door. He cleared his throat as if he wanted to catch someone's attention and then he spoke calmly, "Haven't I told you I hate unnecessary killings, Farfarello?"

The scene was no question. Farfarello was standing at the bathroom door with a woman in his hands. She was still nude and wet. The blush she had from the hot shower did not match the frightened expression she had on her face. Before the two stood three people. One of them was a child. They froze for a moment, as if each trying to learn what was really going on. 

At last one with black hair and glasses spoke, "I can't believe how you could be this irresponsible? Oh wait – you never are." He turned to Nagi, "I believe you know the woman pretty well, am I correct?"

Nagi nodded.

The woman's eyes went wide when she realized two of the people who stood before her; one of her student and his guardian. "Naoe-san," she whispered. Her voice croaked.

She felt the warm breath behind her ear as the man who held her spoke, "Look what we've got here, your Greek god and your beloved pupil coming to watch you die, Miss Shepherd."

"Greek god?" Schuldig snorted as he stole a glance at the still impassive Crawford. The other man glared back at him. He could not see what was written in those eyes, but he would bet a bottle of wine that the other man also found it amusing. If Crawford were a Greek god, he would be Hades.

"Say good bye to them," Farfarello whispered again to the woman, "Come on, say goodbye to them."

Sakoda-sensei trembled. "Naoe-san…. Why?"

She could feel the knife coming closer to her vein and it cut even deeper into her skin, but not yet enough to kill her. Not enough to spill blood from her throat.

"Say goodbye before you leave them." Farfarello grinned. He seemed to be happy. He had a beautiful sacrifice, and his friends were there to watch him perform the ritual.Wait, no, not friends, partners in crime, he hated them - those pathetic creatures. He hated Crawford for his leadership and he hated him more because he always obeyed the American. He hated Schuldig because all he could do was to play around, not realizing that he was the one being played on strings. He hated Nagi for the innocence in his hatred to the people. He hated them.

To his dismay, Crawford stepped forward and took the knife from his hand.

"I don't want to see you killing tonight. One is enough."

The one eyed man raged. He shove the woman to the floor and attacked his leader. Crawford ducked from him easily. Farfarello tried several more times but he failed. He looked at the black haired man with loathe.

"You…."

"Enough, Farfarello," Crawford commanded and strangely enough the Irish obeyed him.

The American then turned towards the woman who was edging to one corner, clinging to a blanket to cover her body. "Sakoda-sensei, I assume," he asked, "I believe we haven't met before. I am very sorry that I missed the parent's day."

The woman eyed them with fear, "Who are you?" she asked.

Crawford grinned, he looked at Farfarello's blade in his hand.

"Just some men who try to survive the world."

"Why are you doing this to me? To Chii?" she was on the edge of being hysterical. She turned to Nagi who merely stood there with empty gaze. "Naoe-san, why are you doing this?"

Nagi looked down to meet her eyes but he didn't say anything. His face was impassive, but then, Sakoda-sensei had only once in her life to see Nagi with expression on his face, and it was painful to see him that way.

"Come here, Nagi," Crawford commanded.

The boy obeyed and stepped forward to where Crawford was standing. The American toyed with the blade in his hand for a while before he shoved it into Nagi's hand.

"You know what to do," he said.

Nagi's eyes fell into the blade for a short second and then looked up to Crawford with questioning eyes.

"Kill her."

"No!" Schuldig stepped forward, "That's too mean."

In the background Farfarello laughed. He seemed to like the idea.

The red head tried to take the blade from Nagi's hands, but the American stopped him.

"Are you questioning my act, Schuldig? You know that it needs to be done."

"Not this way. I'd rather have Farfarello…."

Crawford ignored the sentence. He pushed Schuldig backward and then turned to Nagi, "You know what you've got to do."

The boy seemed uncertain for a moment but then he nodded.

"No, Naoe-san, NOOO!"

Crawford turned to Farfarello, "Help him to do it properly."

Without second invitation the pale man darted forward and held the woman tightly from behind. His right hand were keeping her from moving, while the left one covered her mouth and at the same time tilted her head in a way so that her blue veins came showing from beneath her translucent skin of her neck.

Nagi walked closer to the woman. He averted his eyes from the two frightened eye. The boy hesitated for a while, but then he took the blade to her throat, to the thumping veins that showed up even more vividly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

There was a scream, drowned down by a pale white hand, and then fresh red liquid came spurting from the fair neck. It created a crimson fountain that wetted the three people before her. Schuldig winced. Crawford merely grunted about having to dump yet another suit. Nagi was emotionless, he simply wiped his face from the blood and then handed the blade to Farfarello, who dropped the limp body and took the knife from the boy. He licked the blood clean from the blade.

Then there was silence. All the four looked down at the motionless bodies.

Crawford was the one who first broke the silence.

"Come, we have to go," he said calmly, claiming himself once again into the leader position.

* * *

"Have you heard? Sakoda-sensei was murdered last night. It was in the morning news. They said that a burglar came into the house and killed her and her friend to leave no witness." 

"But they only took a small amount of money."

"Perhaps the burglars were disappointed so they killed them."

"It's so sad, I mean she's a very kind teacher."

"I don't want to live alone when I work later. It's so scary."

"Naoe-san, have you heard…. Hey, Naoe-san, why are you crying?"

**ENDE

* * *

**

sighs now the fic is finished... I feel both sad and glad... some part of me hates to watch a story ends its way... but some part of me feels great to make an end to a story.... heheheh.... writers' block gives you a hell of burden when you're dying to continue writing..... I've got several fanfics going and most of them are facing road blocks... or even if I've got everything clear in my head, I would not be able to write it properly and keep on writing it over and over again..... I guess I have to start listening to some english/german songs again... they always give me more ideas than listening to J-rock lyrics (my japanese sucks bad, I can only understand scraps)..... most of my stories came from those songs anyway... some of the chapters in this fic came from songs too, zB: "A Solitary Cell" came fromDT's Solitary Shell, "Broken" Brad's chapter came from Nada de Turbe a song knew from the choir I join and (again) DT's About to Crash...

Haha... enough about my unnecessary blabbers.... I wanna say thanx to everyone who had reviewed this fanfic.... Quince (the first one to urge me to write fanfic, if it's not for her, I wouldn't be here, hahah), Annonymouse (my dear beta... I'm glad to start this fic at the first time because I came to know you through Quincy), Inami, LikkleStacie, Fire Kat, Carter Tachikawa, Lady Dragon, xXLil Yu JahXx, Jenny or Vault 713, MistyEyes, Miko, genuinesun, Meirelle Emeraldeyes, Misura, Callico Naoe, Ayane-chan, futago akuma-tenshi01, Dras Nocturne, Heaven Star, Bulma Greenleaf, Seraph1, Race Ulfson, The Northern Star, Ash, Brad, Cookie6, JimmyThiefen, Tysoyo Kalli (here's the new chapter, sorry for the very loooong delay), sabacat, and anyone who would review this final chapter.... thank you... thank you...

(please don't sue me if I did typo on your names)

Now, there's a little blue button asking to be clicked down there..... if you care to tell me what you think about this ficcie.... pretty please....


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